'It's a win-win': Bathurst Youth Centre takes over Atlas Park

The Bathurst Youth Centre will soon take over operation of Atlas Park, a 20-minute drive away in Pointe-Verte.

The park, on a deep lake created from a limestone quarry, will be a satellite office for the youth centre, which will add a staff member to provide outreach services.

We can offer more services and it revitalizes the place. It's a jewel of the north.- Josh Ouellette, Bathurst Youth Centre founder

"I never even imagined having one location," said Josh Ouellette, a former police officer who was inspired in 1993 to organize the Bathurst Youth Centre after finding a teenager trying to warm up in an abandoned building.

The building eventually became home to the centre, which opened its doors to the public in 1998.

"It took 19  years to get where we're at," said Ouellette. "We're debt-free. We have the same volunteers, same board of directors from Day 1, back in 1993 when we started working on this."

Ouellette, a village councillor in Pointe-Verte, said he approached his colleagues about having the centre take over Atlas Park.

The park has been a place for a variety of recreation, including snowshoeing, scuba diving, fishing and boating, but it has been underused during the summer. The Village of Pointe-Verte can only afford to have the main office open once a week during the off-season.

"It's a win-win," Ouellette said of the new arrangement. "All the activities here right now, for example, the big fishing derby, walking the trails, the skidoo trails — everything is operating as nothing changed.

"We're just going to improve on that plus put an emphasis on young people.

The centre's lease is a two-year contract, but no rent will change hands.

Hopes to revitalize park

"We want to find out if it's financially viable for us, and then keep it going," said Ouellette. 

"We can offer more services and it revitalizes the place. It's a jewel of the north."

Ouellette and his team plan to host the Bathurst Youth Centre's annual survival week in Pointe-Verte. Youth centre volunteers and staff guide teens through a week in the forest, without cellphones or electronics.

"We're still keen and excited about helping out, and the kids," said Ouellette.

Atlas Park opens officially for a Father's Day fishing derby June 17.