Ground Broken on $3.9 Million Boxing and Financial Literacy Center

Officials with the Casper Boxing Club, the Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming, the city of Casper and Natrona County Schools broke ground Wednesday on the $3.9 million All-American Center for Youth. The facility will house both youth boxing and youth financial literacy programs.

Executive director for the Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming Ashley Bright says, when it's completed, the facility will relieve strain on some of the club's facilities. He also says the center and its programs will serve as a great asset to the city of Casper and its youth.

We've already seen what Casper boxing has done with some of the young people - the mentorship and the leadership and the skill development," Bright said. "And then, with the addition of financial literacy, it's going to propel the lives of our young people."

Clayton Jensen is the president of the Casper Boxing Club. Jensen has been around the boxing club since its genesis in 1972 when it began in the basement of an old Boys and Girls Club facility.

Jensen says it's nice to have a more-permanent home for the Casper Boxing Club after decades of bouncing around central Wyoming. He says the center will be critical for the further development of not only his club, but amateur boxing across the region.

We've had up to 30 kids in the gym," Jensen said. "People just say, 'It's too crowded and I can't handle it.'" "This is just going to allow us to at least have those 30-plus in there to work out and have everybody feel comfortable with it."

Construction officials say the center will open some time next year.