BY MICHAEL-ALLAN MARION
EXPOSITOR STAFF / BRANTFORD

In the 5:30 predawn darkness of Tuesday morning, staff unlocked the main doors to the new Y Family Program Centre at Wellington and Clarence streets to find members standing about, pumped to be the first to use the new, top-rated workout machines.

Nearly two months after the YM-YWCA closed the doors on its longtime 40 Queen St. building, it is reborn in a gleaming new facility with the early 1900s International industrial architectural style resurrected from the drab, bricked-in former textile Work Wear factory that had descended into a brownfield site.

The project was made possible with the help of brownfield developer Steve Charest, president of King & Benton Redevelopment Corp., who helped finance the $1-million-plus costs with a long-term lease with no profit, then execute the renovations.