A big financial boost for the YMCA Glenn Carpenter Centre in Saint John.
It is getting $495,000 from the province to help build a new year-round centre.
The new centre will allow the Y to serve more than 1,500 summer campers.
It will also offer a new outdoor after-school program serving up to 90 children.
The new facility is part of a $3.5-million project to expand the centre and its offerings.
“We’d like to see 5,000 people using our facility on an annual basis versus the 1,000 children that we see out there today,” Shilo Boucher, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Saint John, said in April.
Located along Ashburn Lake, the facility currently only operates 10 weeks a year for summer day camps, she said.
But the expansion project, which is being done in three phases, will allow them to open their doors all year long.
The YMCA also wants to offer more community programming at the Glenn Carpenter Centre, such as corporate events, courses, member programs, weekend events and off-season programming.
The expansion plan also includes a new field, ropes course, climbing wall, campsites and program upgrades.
Phase one work has already been completed, such as a new road and parking lot, and upgrades to the existing lodge.
Construction on the new building is expected to start this fall and be completed next year, with updated programming rolling out in 2024 and 2025.
The YMCA of Greater Saint John is investing $1.25 million and will raise the remaining funds through foundations and individuals.
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