WORCESTER, Mass. - A 94-year-old building in Worcester once home to the Worcester Boys Club, and part of Worcester Vocational School, is becoming the Residences on Lincoln Square, a senior housing project. 

“Old buildings are sometimes hard to repurpose, and this is a great use for it,” Deborah Packard, executive director of Preservation Worcester said. 

Packard is celebrating the building’s new purpose, while honoring its legacy on Salisbury Street. She’s part of a team putting together a historic display to pay tribute to the building’s past.

“The Boys Club in Worcester was founded by a group of businessmen, prominent businessmen. They saw that there was a need for young boys whose parents were working to have a home to go to rather than wonder the streets," she said.

The Boys Club opened in 1930 as a safe place for development for young men in Worcester, but the team is finding it hard to track down other details about the day-to-day operation. 

“Over time, the Boys Club merged with the Girls Club and the records didn’t seem to follow to the new location,” she said. “So, we’ve been researching annual reports, newspaper articles at the library and other information and photos at the historical museum.”

Preservation Worcester is also calling on the public to share their experiences to help piece together this part of Worcester history. 

No matter how silly, serious, or unique the memory, they want to hear from you. 

“One thing that we hear often is the boys actually didn’t wear bathing suits, that was big comment we heard,” Packard said. “The gym, playing basketball. It was really important to them.”

Packard said they’ll use these recounts to honor the history of the Boys Club, its merger with the Girls Club and why it was so valuable to the boys of Worcester.

“People really felt it was their home away from home and it was a really important place for them to grow and to develop,” She said. 

The treasured landmark has sat vacant since 2006 and now this Boys Club exhibit, which will greet visitors in the lobby of the newly renovated building, will preserve its mark on the city of Worcester.

Anyone interested in sharing their Worcester Boys Club experience can reach out to Preservation Worcester at toinfo@preservationworcester.org.