The heartbreak and anger is palpable in Yarmouth following a recent announcement by the YMCA.
On Wednesday, officials from the YMCA Board of Directors issued a statement to confirm that the organization is closing its doors permanently.
Chairman Chris Brown said rising costs, aging infrastructure, and their operating deficit combined with the costs of opening under new safety protocols led the board to the decision to close.
He says they would have needed an immediate infusion of $1.5 million and a long term investment of $5.3 million over the next ten years.
Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood says the Y has always been a big part of Yarmouth County and it’s residents.
“It cuts deeply on a personal level for so many people,” she explained. “I spent my childhood there. Y Camp was my first job. All three of my children were Whitecaps. It’s where seniors gather, where friends meet friends, where children and youth can gather in a safe manner and to lose that is devastating on every level.”
She says they just found out on Wednesday and are looking at whether there are any ways around this.
“The town has always funded the Y, we’ve always supported the Y at a very high level.”
The YMCA has existed in Yarmouth for 162 years.
Meanwhile, interim CEO of the Yarmouth YMCA Darryl McKenzie says the 34 mostly part-time staff have been notified they will not be coming back to work.
“When the government mandated the closure of all facilities in the province, we laid all of our staff off as of March 18th,” he explained. “We reached out to our staff to let them know that the layoff notice is switching because of the permanent closure.”
There’s no word yet what will happen to the Whitecaps swim team, who have now lost their home pool at the Y.
The nearest suitable pool is at the Université Sainte-Anne but everything is up in the air still due to Public Health protocols.
Whitecaps Club President Jane Cunningham says the team has decided to make a strong effort to advocate for this issue to be resolved.
“And for our municipal units to continue to support the Y,” she said. “I guess our understanding is that the Municipality of Yarmouth was the one municipal unit that wasn’t willing to come back to the table and provide that additional funding.”
The Municipality of the District of Yarmouth said in a release on Thursday morning that they felt they had to pull out of funding negotiations when the “required total investment” and “annual municipal subsidy” put the cost “out of reach”.
(With files from courtney Amirault)
