The St. Marys Youth Centre will re-open Monday, Jan. 23 in the former stage area of the Community Centre, operating initially on a drop-in basis from 3-5 p.m., and from 6-9 p.m.
“It’s actually going to be open for more hours than we’ve been operating because here, we haven’t had the after-school traffic,” explained Youth Centre coordinator Candace O’Hearn last Friday evening, as a group of boys between ages 13-15 played computer games, board games and ping pong in the facility’s current home, the former Friendship Centre (at one time a factory) in Cadzow Park.
O’Hearn and the chair of the Youth Centre’s volunteer board of directors, Andrew Hodges, were doing double duty: supervising activities, as well as preparing boxes for this week’s move.
The Centre, operating since 1999 under the governance of an independent board of directors associated to the now-defunct St. Marys Optimist Club, was recently made a division of the Town of St. Marys Recreation Department. Recreation Manager Stephanie Ische delivered a PowerPoint presentation and verbal update about the transition to members of St. Marys Town Council during their meeting Tuesday, Jan. 10.
“The Town of St. Marys will manage the day-to-day operation of the Youth Centre. The Youth Centre board will continue to operate as a governance board,” explained Ische, adding a “Terms of Reference” will be developed to allow the board to be transformed into a subcommittee of Council similar to the Green Committee or Economic Development Advisory Committee.
Asked by Councillor Don Van Galen about the fate of the old Friendship Centre, CAO Rob Brindley responded that chief building official Grant Brouwer is putting together a list of options to be brought to the Administration and Finance subcommittee.
The Cadzow Park location will close on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Equipment and furnishings will be moved to the Community Centre’s stage area, now referred to as the Rec Room of the Pyramid Centre. Items to be moved include a ping pong table, and some furniture, but it’s expected most of the other larger items in the building — an air hockey table, a computer gaming unit, a television and some chairs — will be replaced due to the fact they’re showing considerable signs of wear. The fate of a billiards table, donated to the Youth Centre by the McLean family, is undetermined but one thing’s for sure: there won’t be room for it in the Rec Room, which is considerably smaller than the space now occupied by the Centre.
Ische told councillors the established fundraising initiatives of the Youth Centre — including a substantial proportion of its entire budget from the United Way of Perth-Huron, as well as a recently-implemented e-Waste collection program through Cambridge-based Greentec — will continue. With the addition of renewed Town resources, she said the Rec Department hopes, in the short term, to purchase a new television, x-Box gaming system, and furniture.
And, speaking to the Journal Argus later in the week, Ische said the other short-term priority is meeting with youth of various ages to determine what types of programs should be offered over and above those already in place.
“When we were talking about the transition plan, we said we don’t want anything to be set in stone,” she commented. “These first few weeks, we’re hoping it’s just going to be a lot of hang-out time between 3-5 p.m. We just want to hear from the youth about what they want to see.”
Also on the short to medium-term wish list is the rewiring of the Rec Room to accommodate the television and gaming system, and the levelling off of the steps into the one-third portion of the Community Centre, which are not generally used. This would extend the floor area of the Rec Room.
“Funding, of course, is still an issue,” confirmed Ische.
Glancing around the Cadzow Park building, O’Hearn says she’s thrilled about the move even though it means a decrease in the amount of space available on a permanent basis. She hopes the availability of other rooms within the Pyramid Centre for certain activities will alleviate the loss of permanent space. And, pointing to a light fixture into which water has leaked from the Cadzow Park building’s second storey, to the badly weathered carpet, and to the duct-taped air hockey table, she says the town’s youth deserve a more healthy, well-maintained facility.
In her presentation to Council, the Ische stressed the Town of St. Marys has identified a strengthened level of services for youth as a necessity for a number of years.
“This isn’t something that has just started with this new Council,” Ische told the Journal Argus. An enhancement of youth-based programming was included in the 2010-14 goals of a “community services strategic plan” approved by the previous Council. The new group of civic leaders, she suggested, have simply “taken that next step.”
O’Hearn, the Youth Centre’s sole employee, will be retained as part of the Recreation Department’s new Youth Services division. “Any additional staffing required will come from existing PRC staff,” explained Ische’s presentation.