Plans for new YMCA hub near Barrie downtown library axed due to skyrocketing costs
Officials with the YMCA are again searching for a new home in Barrie as rising prices have made the organization's current plans out of reach.
The YMCA of Simcoe-Muskoka has announced plans for its new facility in Barrie's H-Block, adjacent to the public library, will not come to fruition. Updated costs for the site are nearly $90 million, far out of reach for the not-for-profit.
"As a not-for-profit charitable organization, we do not have that kind of money and nor does our community right now, so we really need to step back and pause and take a look and see what other sites might be available," says Jill Tettmann, the organization's president and CEO.
The costs were last estimated in November 2019 at approximately $45-million. However, Tettmann attributes the rise mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parking, which she says is mandatory for the new facility, would have had to be underground at the site previously selected, something she says also added to the overall price. Locating downtown has been a critical part of the organization's vision.
"That was where we believed the need was where we could really fill a gap in some of the services that were missing in the downtown core of Barrie," says Tettmann. "We don't know that there's property downtown that we can afford. So we might have to go a little bit further. We want to make sure that where we end up that there are good service routes, that there's good bus routes, that there's a population that needs the YMCA."
Tettmann calls the new facility a community hub. In addition to the traditional health, fitness and aquatic resources, the new centre will also have child care spaces, transitional youth housing and other programs and services for seniors and youth.
While willing to adjust plans to fit whatever potential land becomes available, Tettmann says the core vision for the new facility will remain intact.
"We think there are some things that we can make a little bit smaller and tweak a little bit in our design, but we don't want to lose the essence of that vision of a community hub that is really much broader than health, fitness & aquatics," she says.
Last year the group received a $29.9-million grant from the province for the new project. That money must be used by 2027.
Tettmann says the new goal is to have shovels in the ground by Fall 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein hospitalized after return to New York from upstate prison
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
'We are declaring our readiness': No decision made yet as Poland declares it's ready to host nuclear weapons
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Central Alberta queer groups react to request from Red Deer-South to reinstate Jennifer Johnson to UCP caucus
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.