A man recently went to the 12-24 Club to donate toward a new building.

His life was back in order, he said, but five years ago he found the help he desperately needed within their walls.

The story continues a growing list of people the 12-24 Club reached during its 15 years, said project director Dan Cantine.

As the lease on the organization's current building expires, its leaders are now the ones that need help.

The club will have to move when the Natrona County School District begins to rebuild Park Elementary School. Club leaders had leased the land and the building from the city, but when the school district needed the land for a larger school, the city allowed the school district to assume the lease.

Cantine was told club members had between one and four years to find a new home.

Shortly after, Neil McMurry gave the nonprofit a chance to buy the old Coliseum Motors building near Wolcott Street and downtown.

The two-story building will provide additional space for the club that is home to more than 30 support groups and houses between 3,000 and 3,500 people each month.

Its first floor will be leased to a retail store, restaurant or offices, and the second floor will be used for club space, Cantine said.

The 12-24 Club is open 12 hours a day, every day. Cantine boasts their doors have never closed during posted hours.

It all began when Cantine and seven others in the Casper area saw there were plenty of support groups in the area, but no where to go in between meetings.

"Sometimes the time between one meeting and the next can be awful," Cantine said.

This inspired the idea for the club. It has private meeting rooms for sponsors and participants as well as larger meeting rooms for groups. It also houses the Recovery Cafe, an affordable restaurant serving three meals a day and includes an eating area where people can share in fellowship.

The current building has served the club well, but the new building will have even more options.

Right now, only three private rooms allow for meetings. The possible new building will have eight small rooms, and larger, more sound-proof meeting halls, as well as a bigger kitchen and dining area.

Dick Bell, a 12-24 Club board member and treasurer called the money-raising task "daunting" but believes they will succeed.

"We're going to need a lot of community help to get it done," he said.

Now might not be the perfect time as the nation's economy continues to slide, Bell said, but rarely is there a perfect time.

The plan is split in four phases. The first phase is to purchase the land, the building and insurance and totals just over $1 million. Phase two includes building repairs and first floor renovations and falls short of $1 million. The second floor renovations and recovery cafe will be in the third phase, totalling about $1.1 million.

Finally, Cantine hopes the club will form an endowment with $500,000 that will help sustain the club through the coming years and allow them more freedom yearly fundraising.

The new building is Cantine's dream. But during the fundraising process, the club has received calls from people saying they know someone who should go there or they themselves need help. Cantine is pleased with the increased awareness it has raised.

"When this is all over, even if we don't succeed with a new building, maybe we will have helped a few people along the way."

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com

For more information

For more information about the 12-24 Club, call (307) 237-8035 or go to 136 W. Eighth St.