Monday, April 5, 2010

Preview of the new YMCA April 1, 2010 Part 1

Last Thursday as a member of the YMCA Endowment Fund I was part of a select group of supporters to partake in the first preview showing of the new downtown YMCA which will reopen for business on May 3, 2010.

For the past 3 + years a new facility has been taking shape on the grounds of the old building - the facade with its heritage value has been preserved and upgraded to meet current standards.

This is a rather long look so it is divided into two parts with commentary with each of the images.
I hope you enjoy these two pages of my blog and I hope to see some of you at the new facility when it opens.

The new building will serve the diverse community of Vancouver - in addition to the athletic facilities, it will house our community services and international development programs and also have a two story family and child development center capable of handling 69 child care spaces + community kitchen and meeting areas.

Lets begin the tour with this look at the Burrard St south entrance which now boasts an accessible ramp.


The main entrance to the building will be on Barclay street and you will go up a half flight of stairs to the membership entrance, coffee shop which is in the same location as before.
Please remember that we only got possession of the building from the contractor a week ago so there is still much work to be done on the inside in preparation for the grand opening.

FIFTH FLOOR - FAMILY AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER:

I then take the elevator up to the fifth floor - the public part of the family development center where we will all meet, have some snacks courtesy of the new food service provides, get officially welcomed and then are broken up into groups of ten for the tour - most of my group is made up of long time Y members who I know very well. I invited my god mother along as my guest and she was part of this tour as well.
Being officially welcomed as the first group to tour the new facility.

Helping ourselves to some of the food provided - it was also a time fro me to renew some acquaintances that I hadn't seen in some time.

This is the playground or public area on the fifth floor - this floor can be used to house events.


SIXTH FLOOR - CHILD CARE CENTER AND SECURE AREA:

Then it was up one floor to the child care center - this will be a secure area with card access only.

It is fully equipped with a kitchen - sleeping area

Outdoor play area with great views of the downtown core.


FOURTH FLOOR EXERCISE AREAS -

There are two large exercises areas that take up most of the fourth floor as well as the program offices where you will find Debbie C and her staff - the equipment hasn't been installed yet as there is still some finishing work to be done.

You also get a good view of the gym from this floor - each floor is bright and airy.







This is the end of part 1 See Part 2 for the remainder of the preview.

Preview view of the new YMCA April 1, 2010 Part 2

PART TWO - COURTS AND GYM PREVIEW:

There two racquet sports courts in the building - they will have a movable wall so that they can be converted from handball to squash - some of us were trying to figure out just how this will work but Fred Inglis assures us it will be by opening day.







LOCKER TOUR - FIRST UP - WOMEN'S MEMBERSHIP PLUS:

One of the new additions to the facility is a fully equipped women's membership plus locker area complete with a lounge, Internet access, whirlpool and steam bath - the showers are private unlike the men where there is a mixture of open and private - towel service will also be provided but there will be no storage baskets or overnight lockers usage allowed. All lockers will have their own key - it will work this way - you open a unused locker and put your Y card in a slot which will release the key - after putting your clothes etc away you close the locker and remove the key - it will be interesting as to how they will address the issue of those who go out for a run and won't have there cards to scan to get back in.






SWIMMING POOL AREA:

It is a 25 yard pool l- slightly larger than the old one - it has a movable floor at one end and uses a UB light process which cuts down on the amount of chlorine that is needed. There is a steam bath and whirlpool on the pool deck for the general membership to use.





2ND FLOOR - COMMUNITY SERVICES AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICE AREA

The old office and meeting rooms on the second floor have been refurbished and will be use by this department for there many program thrusts including the connections program that I am a part of.


Membership office area.


MEN'S MEMBERSHIP PLUS LOCKER ROOM:

It's like it's counterpart in the Women's except that it is bigger.






While I didn't take any pictures of it there is also a family change facility on the main floor.
Families are expected to be a much larger part of the programming than in the past for two reasons - we now have the facilities to provide it and because of the large increase in families in the downtown core. Child minding will also be available.

This concludes the tour of the new Y - hope that you have enjoyed these two pages of details and images.

Cheers

Dennis