Abby and her brother Elliot play in the YMCA’s jungle gym ball pit, part of the new renovations at the downtown Y.
The National Capital YMCA-YWCA in Centretown now lights up the night with huge floor-to-ceiling windows that reveal a brand new weight room filled with machines.
Despite the completion of the renovations, the Argyle Fitness Centre is short of cash.
“We’ve had a couple really big gifts and that’s created momentum. People like to be on a winning team, but we still need $5 million,” says Jack Silverstein, vice-president of financial development.
So far, a fundraising campaign has raised just more than $10 million towards a $15-million goal, predominantly from face-to-face solicitation.
The last $5 million is the final push of the campaign and the Y plans on raising the money by using its network and continuing to ask for donations. It aims to finish by January 2013.
Silverstein says both the Taggart family and John Ruddy, from Trinity Development Foundation, a company that plans and constructs shopping centres, have both been huge leaders in the fundraising.
Because of this, Centretown’s YMCA has been renamed the Taggart Family Y, while the Y in Orleans is now the Ruddy Family YMCA.
“Ottawa is an exceptionally generous community,” says Silverstein. “It’s quiet money, not like Toronto or Montreal who are flashier.”
The campaign started soliciting back in 2008 when the building was in dire need of renovation work.
“This is a 40-year-old building that we needed to make some changes to,” says Tosha Rhodenizer, the Y's vice-president of membership, health, fitness and recreation.
In November 2010, the building had a toxic gas leak that forced an evacuation as people were using the pool and gym.
In June, mould in the ceiling of the pool caused its closure and a $68,000 bill to re-paint it.
“The place was really running down and in need of renovations,” says Matthew Bol, a member of the YMCA since 1985.
Now, a mix of metal and wood architecture gives the YMCA a clean and modern look.
The lobby welcomes visitors with plenty of tables and chairs, two game stations for children, and a tiny café.
Right next to the lobby sits the new weight room. Brand new equipment is organized neatly throughout the area with plenty of treadmills and Stairmasters for working out.
“The renovations are really nice, the gym has more of everything so you don’t have to wait,” says Jamie Cutts, who has been coming to the YMCA since he was 14.
Now 24, Cutts says the Y has a cleaner look and the organization of the facilities is much better.
Upstairs, new fitness rooms for yoga and dance are just around the corner from the kid’s zone, a new area that houses a play structure which is a combination of a jungle gym, a carnival fun house and a ball pit.
The wall that once separated the children’s wading pool from the adult lane pool has been knocked down and for the first time in a Canadian Y there is a universal change room for anyone who would prefer not to be told which change room they must use.
“The Y is so much more than just fitness, it’s extraordinary how many people we touch and it’s hard to do anything with a tired building,” says Rhodenizer.
“At the end of the day it’s the people and programs that serve the community and now we can offer more.”