May 11—PLATTSBURGH — The City of Plattsburgh has signed a contract with the YMCA to annually provide City youth under 12 the opportunity to participate in its sponsored sports programming.
Currently, the YMCA serves close to 300 City youth under the age of 12 in soccer, baseball and basketball programming. Councilors approved a $35,000 contract, which will look to cover the children's registration fees at the YMCA starting this fall, at their most recent Common Council meeting.
"In 2019, despite public outcry, the City abolished a majority of the recreation department, finally closing its doors in 2020. That created a number of problems to solve including facility maintenance, staffing, and the elimination of sports programming," City Mayor Chris Rosenquest said.
"Over the last year we've spoken with other municipalities and providers to gauge and develop partnership opportunities. The partnership with the Plattsburgh YMCA landed."
FORMER REC CENTER USE
Over the last several months, the mayor's office staff and Plattsburgh YMCA CEO, Justin Ihne, have been meeting to discuss this opportunity.
The City also recently began leasing the former City Rec Center on US Oval to the YMCA. This has been a benefit to both organizations as the YMCA had been looking to expand fitness facilities and the City had the appropriate property to provide, the city said in a press release.
"We are very excited about the opportunity for this expanded partnership with the City of Plattsburgh. Many YMCAs around the country have embarked in these kinds of partnerships and with great success," Ihne said.
"In the end it's about getting more kids active and fostering activities that promote working together, leadership and increase confidence and self esteem."
ROSENQUEST: RECREATION A 'MINDSET'
The City plans to leverage the $160,000 in annual savings from taking the Crete Center offline to offset the $35,000 cost for registration fees.
"Recreation cannot be reduced to a building or a sports program — it's a mindset that's woven into the cultural fabric of our community," the mayor added.
"Playing sports is just a single component to a more global view of recreation in the City of Plattsburgh. Recreation must also include park improvement, play spaces, trail development, bike paths, and year-round outdoor recreational access."
While the measure passed with unanimous support from the council at their last meeting, Councilor Elizabeth Gibbs (D-Ward 3) was concerned $35,000 wasn't enough and said she didn't want to risk any children potentially being turned away in the future.