New day dawns for Lynn’s Girls Inc.

LYNN – Girls Incorporated of Lynn began a new era in the organization’s long history Tuesday morning, officially christening a new 28,000 square foot headquarters at the site of the former Shoe School on High Street.Girls Inc. officially cut the ribbon on the new building by thanking each and every person who helped to get them there, including Old Neighborhood Foods owners Thomas and Marillac Demakes, for whom the building is named.”It has been a long dream of Girls Inc. to have a place for the girls,” said Teen Program member Jomaira Salas. “You will see girls here learning to be strong, smart and bold by the minute.”Strong, smart and bold, the organization’s official creed, was the underlying theme of the morning as Director Patricia Driscoll and various board members took turns recognizing donors, architects and local dignitaries who helped make the $11 million project possible.”Through all of the ups and downs of this project, no matter what we did, it was for the girls,” said Driscoll, who was also honored as the namesake of the building’s entranceway.Located on Broad Street since 1942, Girls Inc. had long outgrown its aging space in 2000 when the idea for a new building project first crept in to the minds of board members at a meeting in the home of Capital Campaign Chairman Jansi Chandler.What followed was a long, hard-fought journey to formulate a plan, and later to purchase, renovate and add on to the city’s first high school, built more than 150 years ago.Now, the once-dilapidated school shows virtually no sign of its age, and sports a brand new 14,000 square foot addition housing the facility’s gymnasium.”This is certainly a great morning for Girls Inc., Pat Driscoll and the city,” said Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. “The re-birth of the old Shoe School and this beautiful addition rising up fits so well into the re-birth and regeneration of this neighborhood.”Clancy joined Sen. Thomas McGee, Congressman John Tierney, State Reps. Steven Walsh, Robert Fennell and Mark Falzone, along with many representatives from the school department and city hall, in celebrating the opening of the building.”When I first walked through the basement of this building I was pretty amazed at how solid the building was,” said McGee. “But to see this transformation is quite unbelievable.”Girls Incorporated updated and renovated every corner of the Shoe School, replacing virtually everything but the foundation and frame. Three floors of office space, meeting and classrooms provide enough space for the non-profit to expand its offered programs by 50 percent.”One thing that we have learned about Girls Inc. is that when you give them opportunity and opportunity is out there, they go out and they achieve,” said Tierney.The project, designed by Donnelly Design and Development and constructed by Delulis Bros., was funded in a variety of ways from private donors to loans and grants, and through the help of the private Mass. Housing Investment Corporation, Eastern, Citizens and Wainwright Banks and East Coast Seafood.”The real turning point in the campaign was when Tom Demakes got involved (in 2006),” Chandler said. “Not only did he give us a significant donation, he got personally involved and asked others for donations.”The building is fantastic. It has everything to meet the needs of the girls, the staff and the community.”Demakes said he was approached by Chandler and Driscoll when the capital campaign had “hit a wall” and needed to tap into private money to complement the state and federal grants already obtained.”My thought was that it should be an easy time raising money for an organization like Girls Inc. I put my efforts behind it and I was able to give some money and raise some,” said Demakes. “We still have a ways to go, but the response has been very encouraging. It makes me proud as a kid from Lynn to see the city have such a beautiful building.”Girls Inc. has raised $9.5 of the $11 million needed. It must raise the remaining $1.5 million