This may be the new coolest spot on the block in Bradford.
Councillors and town staff joined an eager crowd of kids for the grand opening of the BWG Youth Recreation Centre at the old Lions Park building at 226 Colborne St. on Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor James Leduc led the ceremony by emphasizing that providing enhanced recreation and leisure services and facilities is one of council’s strategic priorities, which he said is why they included $570,000 in the 2023 budget for the renovation.
“Having friendly and safe places for young people to explore outside of their home and school environment is critical to fostering growth and empowerment and helps to shape our future leaders,” he said. “My hope is for the centre to be a place of acceptance and inclusion where local youth can access the support and resources they need to thrive, or simply a place to come together and connect.”
The centre features a lounge with couches, video games, and air hockey; a games room with board games, ping pong and foosball; a computer lab with work stations and gaming computers; and is set to host programming for cooking and nutrition, homework support, resume building and interview prep.
On top of that, staff also hope to offer social events like movie, trivia, and sports nights.
“The ultimate goal of this youth recreation centre is to give safe space for the youth to come hang out, socialize, meet new people and engage in meaningful programming,” N’Diia Maharaj, recreation supervisor said. “We are looking forward to collaborating with the youth in the community to make the space what they want it to be and how they envision it so they can finally call a space their own.”
Within moments of the doors opening, more than one dozen young people began doing just that, enthusiastically exploring the centre and enjoying the different amenities.
Avery Sit and Samantha Martin quickly set about the task of trying to unlock new characters in Super Smash Bros. on the centre’s Nintendo Switch console.
“It’s so much fun so far, and we definitely plan to come back. It’s going to be a really fun hang out spot. I like how they have a bunch of everything,” Martin said.
“I feel like it’s a really nice area. It’s very welcoming and it’s amazing — it’s awesome,” Sit added.
John Mustafa put up fierce competition at the ping pong table.
“This is one of the best places. If you want to hang out with other kids and make friends, then come here,” he said.
While the table-top sports are his favourite part so far, Mustafa also likes how the computers will make it easier for some kids to do their homework.
Issac Pereira was already putting those PCs through the paces with some online first-person video games.
“It looks amazing,” he said of the centre, calling it “a big upgrade,” from before. “There’s much more stuff to do and it’s much more fun.”
The centre is available Tuesday to Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. for students between grades 7 and 12 to drop in as they like.
True to its name, the centre is for youth only, with a maximum age of 18, after which guests will be able to continue using the centre until the September following their 18th birthday.
With the exception of taking tours or interacting with customer service, parents and guardians will not be present within the centre, according to the recently approved user policy.