States $3.6M comes in for youth center: Work toward 2006 opening begins

By David Still II
dstill@barnstablepatriot.com

By the time Governor Mitt Romney signed the supplemental 04 budget last Friday, the $3.5 million for the Hyannis Youth And Community Center was already assured.

The work by Cape legislators, with a big hand from Senate Ways and Means Chairman Therese Murray, helped the project avoid the swipe of Romneys veto pen and was even called out within Romneys comments to the press after the bill was finalized. The governor vetoed $76 million from the budget package approved by the House and Senate for a total supplemental spending package of $439 million.

The $3.5 million completes the non-town funding portion of the $14 million project, allowing it to proceed to the design and engineering stage. David Chase, president of the youth centers non-profit group, expects that bids for design work would go out this fall or winter, with plans set by next summer. Construction could begin after the 2005-06 skating season.

In addition to the $9 million commitment from the town is a $1 million federal Department of Education grant, secured through U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy. Release of the town funds was contingent upon a $4 million private match.

In an e-mail to supporters, Chase wrote, Given the time that has elapsed, rising steel prices, and rising interest rates, the Hyannis Youth & Community Center Foundation will continue fundraising to cover these rising costs and to eventually begin building an endowment.

In the e-mail, Chase credited Murray, Rep. Demetrius Atsalis, Sen. Rob O Leary, Rep. Jeff Perry and even a couple of candidates in the November election. Larry Wheatley, running for state representative in the Fifth Barnstable District, and Dr. Gail Lese, running for Cape and islands state senator, were singled out for their support.