Nadal Youth Centre.
In the driver’s seat is Miles Nadal, joined by youth from the Kiwanis Club of Toronto, during the Jan. 26 opening of the the club's new centre. Nadal and his wife Kelly donated $1.5 million to the new centre, located near the communities of Regent Park and Cabbagetown.
Photo/CLIFF SPICER
Children and youth in the Regent Park and Cabbagetown communities will be able to enjoy increased and enhanced programming thanks to a two-year renovation of its local Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club.
Work on the $7 million renovation of the club's familiar home at 101 Spruce St. is almost entirely complete, but a few more features have yet to be added.
With a variety of corporate and individual benefactors, the largest of which was a $1.5 million donation from Miles and Kelly Nadal, the new centre will offer a number of new after-school activities and boast nearly twice as much space as it did before its makeover.
The facility, which has been renamed the Miles and Kelly Nadal Youth Centre, was in drastic need of work, said Ian Edward, executive director of the centre.
"When I first arrived here six years ago, coming to this facility after working with Boys and Girls Clubs, I was taken aback by the energy in the building, but the building itself was at the end of its life cycle," he said.
Edward listed worn out floors, a lack of wheelchair accessibility and the inadequate heating as but a few of the maintenance items needing attention. That was a shame, he said, given the quality and variety of programs that have been offered at the site dating back to the 1930s.
"I thought, 'what wonderful programs, but what a crappy facility,'" he said.
The upgraded facility will still offer the same high-quality programming, from educational help to athletic opportunities to snack programs.
It will now, however, be able to provide children and youth with even more options. With the square footage increasing from 12,000 to 22,000 square feet, the centre will also be able to accommodate both children and youth at the same time with the addition of a fourth-floor youth centre. The facility will also offer weight training and aerobics spaces thanks to money from Loblaw Companies, a Rogers Technology room with Apple computers and tablets, a driving simulator sponsored by UPS and more. "We'll have cooking programs to help young people learn to cook on a budget and become more self-sustaining," Edward said. "We're putting in a recording studio so kids can take advantage of the talent they have making music and digital video and new dance studio that's purpose-built for dance." Nadal said he decided to donate to the facility at the urging of both his wife Kelly and friend and colleague Tony Chapman of the marketing firm Capital C. Kelly volunteered at nearby Regent Park Public School and spoke often of how rewarding it was to work with great kids in the community, and Chapman knew of the local Kiwanis Club's plight.
"(Chapman) told me they were great kids and a great organization, but they needed time, talent and treasure," Nadal said. "I raised a lot of money for (the Miles S. Nadal Jewish Community Centre) and wanted to do something like that in a not-as-fortunate community. We decided to give the kids something to help them know they're great and have great potential."
While the centre held an official re-opening last Thursday, the new facility is still seeking additional funding to put the finishing touches on the two-year renovation. For more information, visit www.believeinkids.ca