MARYSTOWN, NL – The benefits of the Marystown recreation complex are obvious, but they do come at a fairly significant cost.
Jason Brown, president and CEO of the YMCA of Newfoundland and Labrador, gave the organization’s annual report to Marystown council on Tuesday, March 20, outlining operations in 2017. The YMCA and Marystown signed an agreement to operate the town-owned facility in 2016.
According to Brown’s report, the Marystown YMCA presently generates about $1.2 million in revenue with estimated expenses of just over $1.5 million.
The operating deficit in 2018 is forecast to be $325,000. Council has approved an operating budget in that amount to offset the shortfall in 2018, Brown indicated.
“We’ve brought that number (operating deficit) down consistently year over year over year,” he said Tuesday.
“It’s our goal to work with the town to operate as efficiently as possible and we also know … the town has been working to reduce the cost of waste removal and snow removal from YMCA, and we’ve have been pleased to work with the town to try to accomplish that.”
The facility certainly is being used, according to the statistics presented by Brown during the meeting.
In 2017, Brown said the peak number of members on roll – the highest amount at one time – was 1,519, a figure he called remarkable given the size of the community.
Over the course of the entire year, the over 2,100 people were on the YMCA’s membership list, he said.
The average day pass members per month was 777, Brown said, with the total for the year 9,324.
According to Brown, there were approximately 131,000 visitors to the Marystown YMCA during the 364 days the facility was open in 2017.
The Marystown YMCA has also become a significant employer in the region with 34.5 employees. Brown said 7.5 of those are full-time – one employee, the building operator, is shared with St. John’s – while the other 27 are part-time. The facility also has five trained volunteers who deliver programs.
Brown said the YMCA’s ultimate goal is to become “deeply rooted” in the community for generations and the organization took part in a number of events last year, including Marystown Day and the Lions Winter Carnival, to that end.
