A renovated fire station in Lewisville will open Wednesday, Aug. 19 as the first permanent Boys & Girls Club in Denton County since 2019, bringing after-school programming within reach of families across the county, including those in Flower Mound and Highland Village.
The connection to local families is direct. Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell, whose Precinct 3 covers both Lewisville and Flower Mound, was an early champion of the project. And Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County (BGCGTC) president and CEO Daphne Barlow said the nonprofit plans to use the Lewisville branch as a distribution point to send its mobile clubhouse to more Denton County communities, meaning Flower Mound and Highland Village could see expanded services.
The Boys & Girls Club Lewisville Branch, at 195 W. Corporate Drive, occupies a 10,000-square-foot former fire station the city gifted to BGCGTC earlier this year, the Fort Worth Report reported. The $5 million renovation produced 25-foot ceilings tall enough for a gym and an outdoor area being redesigned as a playground.
The organization estimates more than 6,000 kids per year will use the facility.
"No, it does not have a fire pole," Barlow said with a laugh. "That's the number one question that I get."
Denton County was the largest county in the nation without a dedicated Boys & Girls Club branch. The county's last club locations, in Sanger and Lake Dallas, closed in 2019 when Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Texas suspended operations. Barlow first pitched commissioners on a permanent location in February 2022.
Mitchell said the permanent building changes the equation. Without a dedicated space, she said, previous clubs struggled to sustain operations. Denton County committed $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to support the club through 2026, according to a city of Lewisville announcement.
The new branch will serve children and young adults ages 6 to 18 with after-school care, workforce development and life-skill programming. It sits near several Lewisville ISD schools that Barlow identified as high-need areas, within a mile of three elementary schools and one middle school.
BGCGTC has operated a mobile unit in Denton County since 2021, deploying four vehicles with tents and tables to offer tutoring, STEM programs and academic counseling at six locations. The organization's total Denton County investment from 2021 to 2026 exceeded $700,000 and included a robotics pilot program with four Denton ISD schools.
Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore praised the partnership, noting the city contributed a building rather than infrastructure like a road. BGCGTC recently completed a merger with Clayton Youth Enrichment, creating an organization serving more than 100,000 youth annually across North Texas.
Fall enrollment is open at bgcgtc.org.
