Work begins on new Kaye Nickerson centre

The 5,000-square-foot structure will be located behind the Yarmouth Lions Club hall on land donated by the club.

The tender for the project went to Graham Construction.

The Kaye Nickerson centre has been housed in the Lions Club hall since the 1960s, so while the centre’s clients and staff will be moving, they won’t be leaving the familiarity of the centre’s long-time surroundings.

Speakers on hand for the sod-turning event made a point of thanking the Lions Club for the role it has played in the history of the Kaye Nickerson centre, from giving it a place to call home all these years to giving it the land on which to build a new facility.

“The motto of the Lions organization is simply ‘We Serve,’” said Doug Frickelton, chairman of the centre’s board of directors. “For the last 40 years the Yarmouth Lions Club has certainly demonstrated and lived up to that motto by not only letting the Kaye Nickerson centre operate out of the basement of their building, but by donating a large parcel of land to us for our new home. We will be eternally grateful for all the generosity that has been extended to us.”

Construction of a new building to house the Nickerson ccntre’s clients and staff has been made possible thanks to a half-million-dollar grant announced last year by the Nova Scotia government.

The project is meant to address issues regarding occupational health and safety and accessibility. The new centre will have more room than the existing one (which is around 4,000 square feet) and generally create a better working environment, officials say.

A vocational training activity centre for adults with special needs, the Kay Nickerson centre has 32 clients and six staff, along with a summer employee.

The centre produces various items, including pallets, lawn furniture and burial boxes.

People attending the facility also can get help with things like life skills and literacy.

Referring to the new centre that will take shape over the next few months, Yarmouth Mayor Charles Crosby said the project is an example of the three levels of government working together.

Provincial cabinet minister and Yarmouth MLA Richard Hurlburt, another of Friday morning’s speakers, expressed congratulations on behalf of the government and, like others, acknowledged the generosity of the Lions Club.

The property on which the new Kaye Nickerson centre will be built is the biggest donation ever for the Yarmouth club, which was represented during the sod-turning event by David Grantley, the club’s King Lion.

Hurlburt, meanwhile, noted as well the efforts of the Kaye Nickerson centre’s staff and clients, saying, “Good luck in the future and let’s keep it going.”