Many in Montreal’s Chinatown neighbourhood feel there’s been a void since the YMCA at the Guy-Favreau Complex closed in 2019.
“Basically the YMCA was a gathering place of seniors, the elderly, the disabled,” explained Bill Wong, chair of the Montreal Chinatown Economic Development Council. “Everybody needs that centre.”
It’s why he and other community members are once again pushing to see a sports and leisure centre occupy that space. A temporary shelter for the unhoused population now occupies the location, and is set to close at the end of October to allow the federal government, which owns the property, to carry out major renovations.
But first, residents want to have a say in the decision about the location’s fate.
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“We want to make sure that whoever is in charge, listen to the residents, come and talk to the residents about what it can be used for,” said Fo Niemi, head of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations which is representing the group.
Chinatown residents started efforts to re-appropriate the space even before the YMCA closed its doors. Many believe a new sports centre would help revitalize the area considering the surge in crime and street drugs plaguing Chinatown since the pandemic.
Phil Chu, who was a member of the YMCA before it closed, says the centre was the heart of the community, on many levels.
“I met my girlfriend basically at that sports centre,” he pointed out. “We have a child together now.”
He and the others want to make the new facility even bigger than what the YMCA was — a community centre offering both sports and sociocultural services.
“I can guarantee one thing,” said Chu. “I’ve been talking to old members and if this centre was reopened, they would all come back again.”
The benefit, he argues, would be felt beyond the community since there’s a shortage of recreation centres downtown. Those pushing for the sports centre believe they can generate half of the estimated $2 million annual budget from memberships and user fees.
“(With) all these residential units built around Chinatown, there’s more need for a community centre like this,” Wong pointed out.
Public Services and Procurement Canada says it will assess how the space can be used once renovation work begins.
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