The Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi is turning a former newsroom in Līhuʻe into Kauaʻi's first clubhouse built specifically for teenagers, with plans to open the doors by 2029. The organization will convert the former headquarters of The Garden Island newspaper at 3137 Kūhiō Highway, a building and parcel donated outright by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, into a dedicated space for members ages 12 to 18.
The move comes as the club, as reported by Kauai Now, already has a programming waitlist of nearly 100 people, a sign of how stretched existing after-school capacity has become on the island. Once the teen center opens, the Līhuʻe Clubhouse's current home on Hardy Street will narrow its focus to elementary and younger middle school members, according to the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi, freeing the new site to serve teens exclusively.
“This gift is more than a building—it’s an investment in these teens’ futures,” Paddy Kauhane said. Kauhane identified 2029 as the club’s goal for opening the center. Kelly Miyamura described the donated property as a long-term investment in Kauaʻi’s young people and community.
Programming Built Around Four Pillars
The organization says the center’s programming will be shaped around four areas: food security and local nutrition; college and career preparation, including tutoring, mentorship, internships, and career exposure; family and cultural connections rooted in Native Hawaiian values and traditions; and wraparound services and youth safety resources.
The club says Kauaʻi teens will help inform the center’s development. It plans a design charrette with staff, youth members, families, board members, and community partners to gather input on the facility.
The charrette will be guided by Honolulu-based developer ProsPac Holdings Group, founded by the Chen family in 2016 and marking its 10th anniversary in July, alongside Design Partners Inc.
A Newspaper Building's Second Act
The building slated for conversion is the former home of The Garden Island, the county's primary daily newspaper, which was founded in 1902 and later acquired by Oahu Publications Inc. in 2013, according to Wikipedia. Its transformation into a youth facility converts a long-familiar commercial landmark into a dedicated community asset.
The Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi says it will launch a capital campaign in the coming months to help fund the project, though the campaign's total fundraising target and the estimated cost of renovating the former newspaper site have not yet been disclosed. The organization has an annual budget of $9 million. Institutional grantmakers include Kamehameha Schools and Aloha United Way, according to Cause IQ.
The donation also reflects the scale of its benefactor. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation invests approximately $12 million annually in Hawaiʻi nonprofits serving vulnerable individuals and families, and has given about $365 million to Hawaiʻi nonprofits since Harry Weinberg's death in 1990, according to Hawaiʻi Business Magazine. The foundation, which keeps offices in both Baltimore and Honolulu, supports capital and operating projects for low-income communities throughout the islands.
Meeting a Growing Need on Kauaʻi
The demand driving the project is rooted in local demographics. Children under 18 make up roughly 20.8 percent of Kauaʻi County's population, representing more than 15,400 young people out of an estimated 73,800 residents, per U.S. Census Bureau estimates cited by USAFacts. Beyond the Līhuʻe Clubhouse, the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi runs Kapaʻa programs including sports and intersession offerings. The organization operates 10 clubs across Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, serving thousands of youth annually.
Youth poverty in county estimates
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, shown by FRED, put the number of Kauaʻi County residents ages 0–17 living in poverty at 1,790 in 2024. That estimate offers demographic context, but does not by itself show demand for this center or explain barriers to after-school access.
The announcement arrives as the organization marks 50 years of service on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi.
