Saint John gives YMCA $125K for expansion of nature-based, after-school program

The City of Saint John has agreed to provide $125,000 to a YMCA project that will see the creation of a 90-space after-school program geared toward outdoor education.

The decision was finalized in a city council vote on Monday night.

City staff say the project to expand the Glenn Carpenter Centre, which sits on nearly 90 hectares near Ashburn Lake, will benefit residents economically and socially, with increased youth care as well as summer-camp spaces.

Shilo Boucher, CEO of the Southwestern New Brunswick YMCA, said the money will bring the project closer to covering the expected $5 million cost.

 "We're over 90 per cent of the way there, and it means a lot to us to have the support of the city," Boucher said.

The new building and programs are scheduled to open in late January, weather permitting, she said.

The project has also received funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the provincial Regional Development Corporation, individual donors, foundations and other municipalities, according to city staff. 

The expansion was given the green light in April, when council voted to rezone the area around the centre from "rural" to "major community facility" to accommodate the new building's construction.

At the time, Boucher said the planned expansion was meant to address a long waitlist for after-school care.

"The first program that we're focused on is the after-school program because there's a huge need in the community right now for after-school programs," told reporters on Monday night.

"So we want to get that open and move our kids in. We're going to start some recreation programs for members and for the community, and then we're going to launch hopefully our monthly community events out there." 

The centre has always had a main lodge and picnic shelter on site, but both were designed to only be used during the summer months. The new building will allow the YMCA to run programming year round.

Boucher said the new centre aims to develop a nature-based after-school program, so that participants "get to learn and enjoy the outdoors."

The $5-million project encompasses three phases. The first involved completing the entrance and road and the second was to construct the building, which is nearly finished. The final phase involves adding outdoor recreation amenities, which will be ongoing. 

The YMCA also aims to expand day-camp spaces and add more youth and adult programming.

City staff say that the expansion will have a positive economic impact, including the creation of 21 construction jobs and 10 full-time jobs.

Twenty-five members of the Positive Recreation Opportunities for Kids program, known as P.R.O. Kids, will get access to the camp programs every year, the staff report says.

Mayor Donna Reardon praised the decision to help fund the project.

"There's a lot of community opportunities to use the building," she said.