The Youth Community Centre is scrambling to find a new home after being evicted by its landlord last week.
The youth centre will have to leave its longtime home of Grandin mall and has until July 31 to find a new space, states a news release sent out Wednesday.
“It really took us by surprise,” said Bruce Childs, the centre's board treasurer. “We spent quite a bit of money a few years ago renovating that place.”
But it seems that money might be at the heart of the problem. The centre's roof began leaking during the winter due to the buildup of snow on it, Childs said.
Building owner Amacon came back to the youth centre with a bill for $33,000 to repair the roof, which Childs said has not been leaking from rainfall.
When the board replied that, under its lease, Amacon and not the youth centre was responsible for repairing the roof, Amacon sent the eviction notice.
“We don't have $33,000. It's not usually the tenant's responsibility,” Childs said. “We told them we couldn't afford to fix it.”
The Gazette has left messages with Vancouver-based Amacon that have not yet been returned.
Childs said the youth centre is now desperately looking for suitable space that will allow it to carry on its programs. Childs said finding space that is easy for youth to access is challenging.
“There's space in Campbell and Riel, but those aren't really good locations for the youth centre,” Childs said. “We've got two or three sites we are kind of looking at but it's a bit early yet to see what's going to happen.”
It has been a tumultuous year for the youth centre. Last summer the city yanked its Family and Community Support Services grant funding, saying the youth centre was duplicating programming with the city and wasn't offering programs of a preventative nature. After a roller coaster six months, the youth centre announced it would remain open with a reduced staff.
A big part of the reason the youth centre was able to stay open was because it was able to renegotiate its lease with Amacon.
“We are certainly hoping to find some space because we have a fair amount of stuff we have to move,” Childs said.
The youth centre will stay open until the end of the month, he said.
Mayor Nolan Crouse said he only learned of the youth centre's eviction Wednesday morning. He said he was at a loss for a solution to the problem.
“It's quite a shock. Quite shocking to me,” said Crouse. “I'm disappointed with the landlord but there must be another side to this story.”
Crouse said he had a conversation with someone at Amacon Thursday. He said Amacon will not be commenting on the situation as it sees it as a private matter between a tenant and landlord.
Childs confirmed he has not spoken with anyone at Amacon. The youth centre received its eviction notice by e-mail.
Amacon bought Grandin Park Plaza with the intention of turning it into a $450-million residential development with 19-storey high rises. It shelved the plan in 2008 when the recession hit.
