As it considers plans to revamp its facilities, the Metro Central YMCA is mindful not to cause unnecessary disruptions to its low-income tenants.
On Feb. 28, the architecture firm of Barry J. Hobin & Associates sent its initial submission for the renovation of the multi-building complex to YMCA’s senior leadership.
“The sketches are still preliminary,” said Holly Wagg, the National Capital Region YMCA’s manager for marketing and communications.
She indicated that senior leadership will consider the submission over the next few weeks before sending its feedback to the architects. Certain details still have to be ironed out before a decision can be made on a final design.
“There is no elevator in the front lobby and there is an issue with space in the stairwell,” Wagg pointed out.
After some back and forth between the architect team and the YMCA, a renovation plan will be presented to the board of directors. Wagg estimated that a recommendation could be tabled as early as the board’s April meeting. But she added that deliberations could take longer and there may not be a vote until they meet again in May.
The plans cover the 144-room housing tower on Argyle Avenue, which serves a number of constituents. The majority of units are rented by the month to low-income residents, who are allowed to stay between two months and a maximum of one year.
One floor is a dedicated emergency overflow shelter contracted by the city, whose intake workers select individuals and assign beds. Some units are also set aside for youths, who can stay for a few weeks while social workers help them find other housing.
Wagg said that the residential tower is usually filled to about 75-per-cent capacity.
Last fall, when word got out that the YMCA was contemplating major building work, a number of residents expressed concern over the possibility of finding themselves without a roof. The city’s shortage of low-income housing units, they said, meant that they would have nowhere to go in the event of the housing tower’s closure.
But Don Noble, the YMCA’s vice-president for strategic projects, said such worries are premature as the initial designs are not detailed enough yet to assess what the best course of action will be.
He explained that different layout and cost alternatives were included in the Hobin firm’s submission. Depending on which plan the board agrees on, he said, the YMCA could decide to do the building work in stages or establish a more intense schedule.
“We could clear out the units, or work around them by doing one floor at a time,” he said.
The latter would be less disruptive for tenants, but more costly.
Sandy Davis, one the three architects working on the project, said the YMCA is “paying a premium” for a submission that includes an option that would allow the building work to proceed on a floor-by-floor basis.
As for rumours that the residential tower would be turned into fancy hotel-like accommodations, Davis said he has been told by the YMCA that they intend to retain the current social housing purpose for a high number of units. It is too early to determine how many rooms, if any, would be lost, he said.
But Davis was clear that his firm had not received a mandate to radically alter the housing tower’s purpose.
“We are a community-based practice,” he added. “Our interest is in improving community assets.”
Davis said he foresees that developing a final plan, and obtaining city approval and the required building permits will take months. According to him, construction will not begin until 2009.
While Wagg would not reveal the total cost of the renovation project, she mentioned that a capital campaign collecting funds for the Metro Central and Orleans locations, as well as for two summer camps, would enter its public phase in 2009. The campaign’s co-chairs will be announced on March 26.
“This will be the biggest capital campaign in our organization’s history,” she said.