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One of our area’s best recreational facilities is being renovated and looks brand new.
It has Lafourche Parish Government, the Saints and a few of their friends to thank for that.
Big things are happening right now at the Cut Off Youth Center, as the multipurpose facility has been repainted both inside and out – giving the facility a more modernized look.
By the end of May, COYC will also be stocked full with equipment for a new upstairs exercise room, as well as a renovated boxing room – part of a project created by the Saints, Chevron and Offshore Liftboats.
COYC executive director D’Lynn Boudreaux said the makeover marks an exciting time for the building, which has been providing fun and activities for our area’s children since its inception in 1968.
“We’re so happy with how everything has come together,” Boudreaux said. “It’s been a very busy stretch for us, but it’s all coming together and everything is certainly falling into place.”
“We are excited to partner with Chevron and Offshore Liftboats with the announcement of the refurbishment of the Cut Off Youth Center,” Saints Owner Tom Benson said in a release. “Our organization is aware how critical health and fitness is to our youth’s future and it is essential that they have the state of the art equipment.”
The renovations to COYC have been ongoing for several months. The recreational facility received a $150,000 grant from Lafourche Parish Government in Sept. 2014 to be used for “repairs to the building for the residents to utilize.”
Lafourche Councilman Jerry LaFont proposed the ordinance, which was passed by an 8-0-1 vote with Councilman John Arnold absent at time of voting.
LaFont said at the time of the proposal that the money was much-needed, because of the sheer sum of people from Lafourche Parish who take advantage of what COYC gives to the community.
“They need this,” LaFont said. “They do so much to help so many people. This is something that would be put to good use.”
With the grant in-hand, COYC gave itself a more modernized look. The exterior of the building was painted gold, and the pavilion outside of the facility was given new lights, as well as a fresh coat of white paint.
“We wanted to brighten up the outside of the building,” Boudreaux said. “We wanted to make everything look new.”
On the inside, COYC did the same. The interior walls of the facility have been painted to give for a fresh look that better brings out the brick lacing on the facility’s walls. COYC also used its grant money for a new sound system, as well as a new security system. On the outside back corner, concrete was laid between the building and its swimming pool area to create a smoother outside surface.
“We really did some great things with the parish money,” Boudreaux said. “We made some changes and did a lot of things to make everything look much, much better and visually appealing.”
And then the Saints came marching in.
Boudreaux said that around the time that the parish money was being put to use, she received a call from Elicia Broussard-Sheridan, the Director of Community Affairs with the New Orleans Saints.
“She called and told me that the Saints had been looking for a community center in the Cut Off area that is geared toward kids,” Boudreaux said. “So we kept popping up on Google when they were searching, so they gave us a call and initiated contact with us.”
What the Saints wanted to do was to give back. It was their way of honoring a local facility that dedicates time and effort to children for the sake of community betterment.
They are partnering with Chevron and Offshore Liftboats, who said they are excited to help out.
“The Cut Off Youth Center has always served as a place for the youth of the Lower Lafourche communities to enjoy extracurricular activities,” Offshore Liftboats Chief Financial Officer Lauren Melancon Cheramie said. “Offshore Liftboards and the Melancon family are proud to sponsor these renovations and ensure that generations of youth in our community will continue to enjoy the facilities at the Cut Off Youth Center.”
After touring COYC and deeming that it fit their plans, the team committed its help, and changes are currently ongoing.
Boudreaux said work is being done to paint the interior upstairs rooms in the facility. Once that’s done, the Saints will supply workout equipment to the facility so that its upstairs area can be transformed from an office space into a full-fledged exercise gym. Next door to the new gym, workers will turn one of the interior upstairs offices of the COYC into a media room stocked with technology and equipment designed to keep children’s minds working. Across the hall, a new basketball scoreboard will hang on the wall.
The COYC Director said the team is also going to lay down flooring in the building’s boxing gym, as well as supply it with new bags and equipment. The building’s dancing floor will be repaved, as well.
“We’re so happy that our boxing gym is getting redone,” Boudreaux said. “This place has basketball, dancing, swimming and so many different things, but boxing was sort-of what got us started. Their gym was very old and it needed to be redone. I know they’re excited, and I’m excited for them, because it’s going to be great.”
Boudreaux said all of the change is happening fast, and that all of the equipment is expected to be delivered by mid-May.
The culmination will be on May 28 when the building will have a showcase where the community will be welcome to see everything that COYC has new to offer.
Change is happening fast down the bayou in Lafourche Parish. But it’s change that’s for the better, according to Boudreaux, who said that COYC will always remain committed to giving people in the community things to do.
“We’re so excited,” Boudreaux said. “We’re doing a lot of the work while also having to juggle and manage all of the other things that happen here. But we’d have it no other way. We love the diversity. We love that there’s such a wide array of things going on here. These renovations will help make sure that stays the same.”
Workers put a fresh coat of paint on an upstairs office room inside the Cut Off Youth Center. The local recreational facility is undergoing a massive facelift, first getting money from Lafourche Parish Government and then from the New Orleans Saints, Chevron and Offshore Liftboards. The facility will have its grand opening Thursday.
