EDMONTON – After four locations and 42 years of renting, Boyle Street Community Services officially has a place to call its own.
In a multi-million dollar deal, the organization has purchased its 25,000 square foot location on 105th Avenue, calming fears that it would be displaced by downtown development, which includes a future arena.
Julian Daly, the organization’s executive director, calls the move “a real game changer.”
“What this means is that it secures our ability to…(deliver important services) well into the future or for as long as we want to here, and that’s massive for the people that we serve,” he explains.
“Also, it allows us, I think, to find opportunity for our community. I would be hoping that some of the people that we serve here at Boyle Street will find employment in building the arena, and building the other buildings around here. And when they’re built, maybe jobs in the arena and in the arts and entertainment area, as well.”
According to David Berger of the Boyle Street organization, some discussions with PCL Construction have already been had about job prospects during the construction phase.
“And we’re hopeful if we can provide the right candidates, that will be reliable and show up for work all the time, that it will be a great opportunity for us.”
Berger adds that in other cases when downtown arenas have been built, people from the inner city who were trying to get into the workforce have benefited.
While it’s still early in its early phases, Mayor Stephen Mandel says that as part of the arena project, there is a “community benefits” program in the works which will try to create more sophisticated opportunities for those within the central core.
“It’s not just for those who are challenged, but it’s for everybody who lives downtown. So as an example, the new arena is also going to have a community arena attached to it.”
Officials at Boyle Street, which serves about 9,000 people each year, say they’re excited about the possibilities the future holds.
“I think this will be a real opportunity for the mix of our community and the broader community to see how we can work together and live together,” says Berger.
The arena is scheduled to be finished in time for the 2016 hockey season.
With files from Shannon Greer, Global News
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