New gym for downtown YMCA

By Nate Hinckley

Members of the YMCA on Pelissier Street will soon have to travel to a new location to use its gym facilities.

While the daycare portion of the centre is running smoothly, its gym has been struggling financially.   Last year, YMCA Windsor had 1,400 registered members.

The YMCA will open a pool in the new facility in addition to all of its present services including its gym, exercise equipment and basketball court.  The cost of membership will stay the same for the present time, ranging from $27 to $69.  The YMCA will be doubling its number of employees over the coming months.

“We will be hiring once we move into our new location in April,” said YMCA  general manager Andy Sullivan.

The members of the Mental Health Connections Organisation had used  the YMCA gym for four years, but after the pool closed a year ago they started using the Downtown Aquatic Centre.

“We are happy using the aquatic pools with our members,” said Jeanie Laforge, executive director of Mental Health Connections. She said they have no intention of returning to the YMCA.

The YMCA has been allowing registered St.Clair College students to use their facilities free of charge for the past few years. Student members have mixed reactions to the move because of  how far away from the city core the new location of the YMCA gym will be.

“I’ll have to go out of my way to go to the new place,” said Aaron Agorilla, a St.Clair Student who is a regular user of the YMCA’s basketball court. “I just won’t be able to go. It’s too far out of the way for me.”

The new YMCA location is due to open in early April, 2016.