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Agreement Reached to Allow Day Care to Stay in Boys & Girls Club Until New Home is Ready

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The Watertown Boys & Girls Club building also houses First Path Day Care Center. First Path Day Care Center and the Watertown Boys & Girls Club have negotiated an agreement which would allow First Path to remain in the Club’s building so that children can attend the day care while construction is finished on its new facility. The day care center has been located in the Boys & Girls Club building since 1998, but the Club has plans to expand its program so in 2021 it informed First Path that its lease would not be renewed. The lease was supposed to end on May 31, 2024, and the Club’s board gave an extension to June 30, but First Path wanted two more months to allow work on their new facility to be finished. First Path declared bankruptcy in an effort to prevent an eviction, and the Boys & Girls Club filed a motion in Federal Court to remove the eviction protection.

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Federal Judge Rules Boys & Girls Club Can Evict Day Care Center

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Watertown Cable

A Federal Bankruptcy Court judge sided with the Watertown Boys & Girls Club’s motion to allow them to evict the First Path Day Care Center from the facility on Whites Avenue. On Monday, Judge Janet E. Bostwick rejected First Path’s request for a preliminary injunction preventing the eviction, and ruled that the bankruptcy filing does not prevent the Boys & Girls Club evicting the day care center, according to a report by the Boston Globe. In the ruling, Bostwick said lease had “unequivocally expired,” according to the Globe, and that under state law any other agreements “needed to be in writing to be enforceable.” First Path has been located in the building owned by the Watertown Boys & Girls Club for 26 years, and currently serves 60 families. In December 2021, the Boys & Girls Club informed First Path that its lease would not be renewed because it seeks to expand its program into that space.

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City Manager Clarifies City’s Role in Dispute Between Day Care and Boys & Girls Club

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Watertown City Manager George Proakis. [UPDATED: The story was updated on Aug. 15 at 8 a.m. about the status of the building permit.]

City Manager George Proakis weighed in on the City of Watertown’s role in the ongoing strife between First Path Day Care Center and the Watertown Boys & Girls Club over the space leased to the daycare provider. He said he was limited in how much he could say because First Path has ongoing suits against the City. The dispute over First Path’s lease at the Watertown Boys & Girls Club became public in recent weeks, first with a letter from the Boys & Girls Club leaders saying they have plans to expand the Club’s program but the day care has not left the space after its lease expired.

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Boys & Girls Club Court Motion Seeks Eviction of First Path; This Would Shut Down Business, Day Care Rep Says

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Watertown Cable

The Watertown Boys & Girls Club has filed a motion in Federal Court seeking to evict the daycare center that has been located in its building on Whites Avenue for 26 years. Representatives of First Path Day Care Center said this would lead to the business closing and create a a crisis for its families and staff, while Boys & Girls Club representatives said they have plans for the space and have already given an extension after the lease expired. In a statement, First Path said that it has sought a new home for more than two years, and the eviction notice comes as construction on its new facility is nearly complete, said Max Bolyansyy, General Manager of the First Path Day Care Center. “The child care crisis being created by the Boys and Girls Club is completely avoidable, if they were truly interested in supporting the families and children we serve,” Bolyansyy said. “For more than a year we have been paying 50 percent more in rent to assure we were being good partners to the Boys & Girls Club.

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LETTER: First Path Day Care Center’s response to Boys & Girls Club Chairman Medville

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“WBGC has a choice to either work with First Path in a friendly manner to help it and its families through a difficult time or to continue to wave the stick of eviction over the heads of First Path’s families and staff that include infants, children with special needs, refugees from war in Ukraine and long-term day care teachers. We would like WBGC to remember the Golden Rule that we teach our children, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.”

As a local business, providing daycare services to the community of Watertown for more than 26 years, we were disappointed to read the recent Letter to the Editor from the Chair of the Watertown Boys and Girls Club (WBGC) {Boys & Girls Club Planning to Expand, Obstacle Hindering Its Efforts; July 26}. Our disappointment arises from Mr. Medville’s incorrect assertion that “now the only barrier to moving forward is First Path Daycare’s consistent failure to live up to their agreements.” In 2020, 3 years prior to its lease expiration First Path wrote to the Club in an e-mail “Our lease is expiring in 3 years. We need to plan ahead and would like to start discussing lease extension… 3 years might sound as a long time, but in reality it is short period relative to long term plans. ” Club’s reply; “Board President … will work … on developing a plan for lease negotiations.

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LETTER: Boys & Girls Club Planning to Expand, Obstacle Hindering Its Efforts

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The Watertown Boys and Girls Club is expanding, building a New Foundation

The Board of Directors, Executive Director Gary Beatty and staff of the Watertown Boys and Club are delighted to announce an expansion of the space we use in our building and our programming for the children and families of Watertown. 

We are building a new foundation for the growth of our Club in Watertown. New Foundations — the project name — is our more than $1.6 M project to completely renovate the ground floor of the building.  The result will be a beautiful space that will house a brand new licensed childcare program — the first of its kind at the WBGC and the only one in Watertown–to provide licensed after-school childcare for up to 85 children. This will enable us to help meet the growing need for quality after-school care for children in K-3 in Watertown. I am writing to share an update on our project.  In the past year we hired an architect, Bloom Architects, agreed on a design, developed drawings and bid documents, bid the job out and awarded the bid. We have signed a contract with Groom Construction. Groom was the low bidder (by over $100K) and have been very responsive and easy to work with. We are excited to be working with them. Construction is due to start in August and is expected to finish around the end of the year. We are ready to move ahead, but we can’t.  The barrier is First Path Daycare.

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Watertown Boys & Girls Club Announces 2024 Youth of the Year Winner

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The Watertown Boys & Girls Club’s Youth of the Year for 2024, Yazmin Ramirez Arias. (Courtesy Photo)

The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Boys & Girls Club:

The Watertown Boys & Girls Club held their Annual “Rising Stars” Youth of the Year Awards Celebration on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in the Club’s gymnasium. Three highly qualified Club Member were nominated as a result of their service at the Club and further in the community. Yazmin Ramirez Arias was named the Watertown Boys & Girls Club “Youth of the Year.”

In this Leadership Development Program, Club Members nominated by Club Staff are prompted to write a “Club Experience” Essay that shares their achievements and why they personally believe they should be named “Youth of the Year.” They present this essay to local judges who collectively decide the top candidate. The top chosen candidate and Official “Youth of the Year” will represent The Watertown Boys & Girls Club and qualify for the next step to compete at the State Event for the title of Massachusetts Youth of the Year on May 7, 2024 at Gillette Stadium.

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Watertown Boys & Girls Club Opening Childcare Center, Launching Fundraising Campaign

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Boys & Girls Club:

The Watertown Boys & Girls Club will soon unveil its plans to open the City’s first and largest licensed childcare center for school aged children. Opening in 2024, the childcare center will encompass an entirely renovated ground floor with more than 3,500 square feet of dedicated space to accommodate up to 80 children in grades K-3. Donations will be accepted through The “New Foundations” Campaign to raise funds for this project. In addition to providing licensed childcare for school-aged children, the new center will also offer access to the Club’s pool and athletic facilities as part of its programming. The expansion will create additional capacity to meet increasing demand on the main floor of the club for programs to support older children and teens.