The Sun Youth Foundation is now in the market for a new headquaters. The Montreal School Board, citing a need for more classroom space, voted Wednesday night to reclaim the old Baron Byng High School building on St-Urbain street, which the foundation has called home for 36 years.
"Obviously, we are a little bit disappointed that we couldn't come to an agreement to co-habitate and find a way," Ernie Rosa, property manager for Sun Youth told CJAD 800's Andrew Carter on Thursday morning. "In the end, its their builing, they own it, we've been renting, and it's time to split ways."
Baron Byng was built by the Protestant School Board of Montreal in 1921 and was decommissioned in 1980. Sid Stevens moved Sun Youth into his old high school one year later. The building is steeped with history, a generation of community building under Sun Youth, and before that, classrooms for the likes of Mordecai Richler and Montreal film mogul Mel Hoppenheim.
In recent years, the building has been falling into disrepair. Nick Carpentier, Sun Youth communications coordinator says while the building has a special past, the real history is with the people and the community. Both he and Rosa hope that Sun Youth will be able to stay in the Plateau neighbourhood, where the foundation has operated since 1954.
"We are looking to see if there is property available in the Plateau area to hopefully build something that is adequate and proper to our needs," Rosa said. "That includes a gym and proper functioning areas for food and clothing distribution."
Sun Youth provides aid and social services to 2,300 Montreal families in need each month, and is currently in its busiest time of year. Volunteers have over 5,000 holiday gift baskets to distribute between now and Christmas, so its business as usual inside 4251 St-Urbain, despite now being without a permanent residence.
The Montreal School Board, which now owns the Baron Byng building, has given Sun Youth a window of 18-36 months to move out.