LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A career room, computer lab, sound studio and much more. A new teen center in Lake County aims to add big value to the young people in the community. 

​Summer Donaldson, 12, shared her excitement for Leesburg’s new Teen Enrichment Center, as leaders celebrated the official groundbreaking Friday.

It’s a collaboration between the City of Leesburg, Lake County and the Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida.

“When I came to the Boys & Girls Club it gave me something to do that was very helpful to do, something positive. I’m more confident,” Donaldson said. 

The $2.75 million addition on Griffin Road will be 10,000 square feet and will triple the capacity of children served daily. 

“Giving a bunch of different programming from educational stuff, study halls, entertainment stuff, music halls and things that provide productivity for folks and keep them learning,” said Al Minner, City Manager of Leesburg. “As long as you’re learning, you’re progressing.  That’s probably the best thing about the teen center.”   

According to the Boys & Girls Club, 25% of children in Leesburg are below the poverty line, compared to the nationwide average of 13%. 

“The truth is the children need more and they’re concerned about their teenagers they’re concerned about their children. This is where we need to be,” said Gary Cain, president & CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida.

And everyone involved in the new center believes it will help local teens succeed later in life.

“The teen center’s going to help provide those basic building blocks that all youths need for the rest of their lives and they’ll be able to get it right here near their homes,” Minner said. 

“You can make new friends. You get to embrace whatever your passion is, like art, dance, singing,” Donaldson said. “You just get opportunities like that, that can help you with the future and then you have a positive future.”

The goal is to have this new enrichment center open by early 2022.