YM-YWCA on track for move to temporary home

05/19/2005

BY MICHAEL-ALLAN MARION
EXPOSITOR STAFF / BRANTFORD

A plan to put an interim YM-YWCA in the old Work Wear building is on schedule, and progress continues on a long-term project to construct a permanent facility by Earl Haig Park, says the organization's CEO.

Don Duncan said this week the design for renovations to transform the Work Wear brownfield property at Wellington and Clarence streets is finished and partners King & Benton Redevelopment Corp. and Lanca Construction are in the process of acquiring all the necessary permits.

Construction is expected to start within the next two weeks, with completion in mid-summer, said Duncan.

The new $1-million-plus facility, to be called the Family Program Centre, will be the Y’s home for at least the next three years, starting sometime this summer after the present Queen Street facility is vacated at the end of June. There could be a month or so when there is no Y open.

The new place will provide a workout centre, a 2,600-square-foot gym, a 2,200-square-foot multi-purpose space for activities, classes and meetings, a playland, babysitting facilities, an 81-space parking lot, and customer service and administrative offices.

Pool and squash court facilities will not be available until the permanent centre is finished.

After a permanent location is established, the Y plans to maintain the Family Program Centre, for some programs.

Colleen Armstrong, King & Benton's project co-ordinator, said the company appreciates the co-operation it is getting from city staff to keep momentum going on a project that will also redevelop one of the city’s 15 designated brownfield sites.

“It’s been great and we expect construction to start shortly,” he said.

MAY BE DISRUPTION

Armstrong noted that they Y many endure some temporary administrative disruption in the changeover from the Queen to Wellington, but stressed that King & Benton is committed to accommodate any displaced staff until the new facility is ready.

She said she also hoped the project will encourage greater private sector redevelopment of other brownfield properties in the community.

Duncan said progress is continuing on the proposed permanent facility to go near Earl Haig Park, off Market Street South, with the help of a group of 10 friends of the Y who are assisting in acquiring support for the project and fundraising activities.

The Y is negotiating with the city to acquire a four-acre parcel of land that currently contains the Go Karts facility.

The property is on land, like the civic centre next door, that was part of the city’s original industrial area. It was marked by a canal long ago filled in and near an old municipal garbage dump.

However Duncan said an environmental assessment has determined the site is “buildable.”

Although the spot also is on a floodplain, he said a study has determined the water table presents no problem.

“We are continuing to work our way through the process,” he said.