Lifeplex May Get New Life

YMCA, county may take over wellness centre

By GORDON DELANEY Valley Bureau
Sun. Jan 17 - 4:45 AM
The struggling Lifeplex Wellness Centre in Cornwallis could have new management if the YMCA decides to enter into a partnership with Annapolis County to run the multi-million dollar facility.

The municipality, which owns the building housing the sports complex, is in discussions with the provincial YMCA, which is looking to expand services in the area.

"Even though a partnership with the YMCA is still in the early discussion phase, it is very positive," Annapolis County Warden Peter Newton said Friday.

"If this relationship develops, the aquatic wellness centre can remain available to our residents while under the very capable management of this reputable organization."

The $7.5-million centre, which started out as a community volunteer project, has been plagued with financial troubles from the beginning. Even during construction, the municipality had to take over the unfinished building and borrow $2.5 million to finish it.

It eventually opened in 2006, but the volunteer Basin Wellness Society has had trouble raising the money to keep it afloat. For the past year the centre has operated without a manager.

"It’s been like an open-ended subsidy," Warden Newton said in an interview.

The Basin Wellness Society is not meeting its budget commitments, or meeting the goals that were set for membership or revenue, he said.

"That only means that the municipality, in the end, will have to pick up whatever deficits there are if we want the thing to continue," Mr. Newton said.

This year, the county has not provided any operating funds, he said.

"But we also know that they haven’t been able to pay the utility bills, which come to the municipality. That means we’re going to have to absorb that."

He said the centre is a large and complex operation.

"You need a professional manager to operate that type of facility, and they haven’t got it," the warden said. An arrangement with the YMCA would allow the facility to still be community based.

"They have a lot of experience and knowledge and background to operate this type of facility," said Mr. Newton. "And they have the ability to share resources between facilities, like the financial director, which they plan on doing here."

The YMCA has sports facilities in Bridgewater, Yarmouth, Halifax and Sydney, but nothing in this area.

"So they’re looking to expand their operation," the warden said. "I think it would work for everybody."

YMCA officials have toured the Lifeplex building and provided some preliminary budget numbers and proposals for the centre. They also plan a market study to determine its feasibility.

"At this point in time, they appear quite confident that they can put together a business plan that makes sense," Mr. Newton said.

"The YMCA is very interested in exploring a partnership," Margaret Kay Arora, YMCA’s eastern Canada co-ordinator, said in a news release issued by the county.

( gdelaney@herald.ca)