New life is coming to the site of a former machine shop for the coal mining business in the heart of Glace Bay, N.S.

A ceremonial sod turning was held Friday in an empty field next to a parking lot and a well-used skate park to kick off construction of a $15-million youth and family centre.

The project is targeted at a community with an industrial past that officials say has one of the highest youth poverty rates in the province.

"The well-being of our children and our youth today is one of the be…