SARANAC LAKE - The Saranac Lake Youth Center, closed since the Jan. 1 arrest of its former director, will reopen later this month with the help of community volunteers.
The SLYC Board of Directors, in a letter to the Enterprise, said the youth center will reopen on Monday, March 22 with an open house for kids and parents from 2:30 to 8 p.m. The center will then be open the rest of the week from 2:30 to 6 p.m.
SLYC Board President Doug Zobel said the nonprofit group has had a strong response from the community since the board issued a call for help in getting the facility running again.
"The last few meetings we've had have been very well attended," Zobel told the Enterprise. "With that, we've been able to mobilize ourselves and get a group of people that are willing to step up and step in. We feel really good about what's happening."
The SLYC has been closed since Michael Scaringe Jr., who was hired in September as the center's director, was arrested and charged with raping a 13-year-old girl who frequented the youth center. The rape allegedly took place Dec. 23 at Scaringe's home on Old Lake Colby Road. He was initially suspended without pay and later fired by the SLYC board.
The rape case is expected to be heard by a grand jury later this month.
The "directorship crisis," as Zobel referred to it last month, complicated the financial crisis the youth center has been facing for some time and led to a series of planning meetings about the future of the facility.
"The events that necessitated the temporary closure of the youth center were very traumatic for the staff and the youth who use the center," the board's letter reads. "It was necessary for us to step back, regroup and decide how to move forward."
For a time, the youth center was in a Catch-22. The SLYC board didn't have the money to open the facility or to hire a new director, and it couldn't get money from its funding sources without showing it was operating.
For now, board members are solving that problem with the help of volunteers who will be supervising all the youth center's activities. The volunteers have all been screened and subjected to background checks, the board said in its letter.
"We've been able to amass and motivate a bunch of community members," Zobel said. "We have volunteer support and people taking on various tasks, such as putting together schedules and brainstorming about activities we'll do when we open, so the kids will have something to focus on when they're there."
Getting the center's doors open will also allow the board to pursue grant requests and the funding it needs to hire a new director, Zobel explained.
The youth who use the center have also been involved in the reopening effort by planning fundraising events to supplement the cost of rent, utilities and supplies. The first event is an Election Day bake sale at on Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"The youth who use the center find it an important part of their lives and were determined to get it going again," the board's letter reads.
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Contact Chris Knight at (518) 891-2600 ext. 24 or cknight@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.