The Bainbridge Island Rotary Club put a huge dent in the money needed to fund a new home for the Bainbridge Island Boys & Girls Club. Bainbridge Rotarians pledged $125,000 — almost half the money needed — at a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Combined with a few other $10,000 “leadership gifts,” the club has already received the Rotary pledge brings donations to $165,000. The club still needs about $235,000 to reach its $400,000 goal. According to Boys & Girls Club branch executive director Mark Gurtler, that could happen as soon as within the next two months.

The club currently offers its programs within schools, and a 2,700-quare-foot annex to the new island pool was supposed to provide its first home base. But in spite of having been already designed, permitted and having a contractor ready to go, the addition was eliminated when the pool went over budget.

The new building will allow the 300-member club to expand from its focus on elementary after-school programs to serve more middle and high school kids on nights and weekends, and include space for a game room and an arts center.