City and YMCA eye joint recreation facility
Momentum is building toward a new recreation centre in one of Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods, but some community groups don’t like the city’s idea to partner with the local YMCA on the project.
On Tuesday, city council will look at a request from administrators to continue discussions with YMCA Saskatoon, with an eye toward a new facility. The city and the Y have been having such talks for many months, according to an administrative report. “It’s been a project of mine to have a recreational centre in the heart of Saskatoon for a long time,” Coun. Pat Lorje said.
The details of such a facility are a long way from being finalized. Lorje said she has proposed a jointly owned city/YMCA facility, and mentioned two possible locations.
Her first choice would be the empty lot located between 19th Street and 20th Street, and Avenue K and Avenue L. This space would be accessible from Saskatoon’s various core neighbourhoods, but would also present certain challenges.
“There’s a railway track there, so it would be a major design challenge,” said Lorje, adding it may also be too far west for the YMCA’s membership.
She also brought up the park located next to Riversdale pool, adjacent to the river just east of Avenue H.
Lorje made sure to clarify these are just suggestions, and any facility would require a lot of planning and study.
Deborah Graham, president of the Riversdale Community Association, agreed there is a long-standing need for a recreation facility in the area, but was adamant that it should be strictly a city initiative, and that the YMCA should not be involved.
“The Y is a somewhat private group. We would want a city leisure centre here in Riversdale, because we would want everybody to have access to it, no matter what your cost limitations were, and that’s not what the Y generally is,” Graham said.
That sentiment was repeated — if less forcefully — by John Dubets, president of the King George Community Association.
“If the YMCA goes back to its roots, it might be OK. If we’re catering to a bunch of businessmen who want to spend their lunch hour at the Y, that doesn’t serve our community. They’re less plugged in to the community, and they’re more like a private club now,” Dubets said.
Unlike Graham, Dubets acknowledged that a YMCA facility would be better than nothing.
“We’ll take a civic centre however we can get it,” he said. When asked the same question, Graham rejected the notion that it should be one or the other.
Dean Dodge, CEO of YMCA Saskatoon, declined to comment on the discussions they’ve had with the city, but he did respond to the notion that a Y facility would mean limited access.
“I think if you go back over 107 years of history of the Y in Saskatoon, we’ve served the whole population quite well,” he said.
“We work with all sorts of people, and we have systems in place where if people have any sorts of barriers, financial or physical, we work with them to make sure they can have access to programs and services.”
Lorje said it’s too early to get into details of how such a facility would be paid for.
“It’s like a big giant jigsaw puzzle, and all the pieces will come into place as we continue with discussions,” she said.
One important piece of that jigsaw is the current YMCA building, which would be vacated if a new facility was built. Its prime location — right next to TCU Place downtown — could make it a viable option for the expansion of the city’s convention capacity, something Mayor Don Atchison spoke about in his latest state of the city address. Atchison was not available for comment on this story.
While she didn’t confirm that the city is looking to take over that spot, Lorje did acknowledge the need for more convention space.
“(TCU) has been a marvellous building for the city, but I think the city is rapidly outgrowing their ability to be able to host major conventions. I am advocating that we should be preparing to expand our convention facility,” she said.