Little hope of saving downtown Montreal YMCA and YWCA for public use

With the sale of the YWCA and the disrepair of the YMCA in Montreal, services may disappear, as the city decides what to do with the buildings.

The future of the downtown Montreal YMCA and YWCA buildings is not looking bright.

The buildings that have provided low-cost housing, fitness facilities and language classes were the subject of debate on Tuesday night at city council, and it appears that there is little hope of saving them for public use.

The seven-storey YWCA, or “Women’s Y,” at 1355 René-Lévesque Boulevard West, was sold to a condo developer, which has plans for a 30-storey residential and commercial building. The women-only Y will move to a different location at 1275 De Lorimier Avenue, east of the Village.

The downtown YMCA has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic and contains a large indoor pool that has not been in use for years.

Downtown resident Robert Hajaly wants to ensure the services are saved, if not the entire building.

“My question was for the council to attach certain conditions to the demolision of the YWCA downtown which would ensure that its function of providing low-cost housing and essential services to people in need would be continued in that part of the downtown,” he said.

City councillor Leslie Roberts represents the Peter McGill district and said the theme is “accountability.”

“It didn’t make sense to spend millions of extra dollars to save a building that was in such disrepair, and, at the same time, the service to these vulnerable women was hanging in the balance,” said Roberts. “And if you take a look at the Y[MCA] on Stanley, that is so old and in such poor condition, the pool’s been closed forever and the gym isn’t used anymore, it also may not make sense financially.”

Roberts says the city needs to have a “Plan B” if it doesn’t make sense financially to reopen both buildings.

The city is creating an inventory of low-use and vacant buildings that can be used for low-cost housing.