The A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club plans to build a new $7.2 million clubhouse next door to the Birmingham CrossPlex in the city's Five Points West neighborhood.

The new facility will replace the current Kirkwood R. Balton Clubhouse at 2900 South Park Drive Southwest. The aging Balton Clubhouse has been used for club operations since the late 1990s and the building "has exceeded its useful life," A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club Chief Executive Officer Frank Adams said.

"With an average daily afterschool attendance of 150 and a summer average daily attendance of 240 members visiting the clubhouse on a regular basis, the building's age and lack of visibility have limited the organization's ability to be as accessible as possible to the youth who need us most," Adams said in a statement to AL.com. "The high concentration of teens within the club's three, five and 10-mile service area presents a continuing opportunity to serve as a safe space for more teens from across Jefferson County. The new Walter Howlett clubhouse at the Crossplex will fulfill the growing need for our programs in our immediate Birmingham service area and beyond."

The new 24,300-square-foot clubhouse would allow the Boys & Girls Club to increase its capacity and allow for an average daily attendance of 450 children and youth, Adams said.

The A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club's "Building Their Future" capital campaign, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Grayson Hall and Lee Styslinger, has raised over 90 percent of the funds needed for the facility from local community leadership.

The groundbreaking on the clubhouse is set for December. Construction is scheduled to last 12-to-14 months with the goal of the new clubhouse being open by early 2020.

The Boys & Girls Club is seeking to lease four acres of property off Avenue W, roughly across the street from the Five Points West Library, to build the clubhouse. The lease will be $1 a year and for a term of 95 years.

At a city council committee meeting on Monday, Mayor Randall Woodfin said the site, which hasn't been subdivided, doesn't have an assessed value and the city wouldn't be interested in making the property available to any other entity. The Birmingham City Council has yet to vote on the lease agreement.

A Comfort Inn & Suites is nearing completion off Bessemer Road in front of the CrossPlex. A Starbucks community store also recently opened there. A Walgreens Pharmacy, Golden Rule Bar-B-Q, Salon Suites and other retails and restaurants are planned for outparcels in front of the CrossPlex.

In a statement to AL.com, Adams said the Boys & Girls Club's board and leadership team selected the CrossPlex for the new location because of its high visibility, ease of transportation, and foot traffic.

"The proximity to the area's public library and the Birmingham Police Department's Western precinct were ideal factors in the selection process," he said in a statement.

The new building would allow the Boys & Girls Club to partner with even more community-based organizations for youth mentoring, Adams said.

The final design elements of the new clubhouse are under final review.

The new clubhouse will include a multipurpose cafe and teaching kitchen, with adjacent teaching garden and outdoor classroom. Other amenities include a multisport gym with locker rooms, spectator stands and a stage. The clubhouse will also have dedicated space for a learning center, tech center, program area, games room, music/theatre room, art room, and "The Club" teen space with program areas to prepare young adults for post-secondary opportunities.