Blue toques handed out by the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka to guests who attended Friday's groundbreaking for a new facility in Barrie were the right fit.
A cold wind whipped through the chilled crowd warmed by the groundbreaking for the $70 million, 77,000 square-foot new YMCA at 535 Bayview Drive, currently a parking lot just to the north of Sadlon Arena.
"Today we are literally standing on the very spot where so many in our community will connect with Y programming that will change the trajectory of their lives," said Jill Tettmann, President & CEO of the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka. "This facility will be so much more than a fitness centre or gym. It will be a place of belonging."
The new YMCA will include health and fitness facilities, an aquatic centre, youth outreach programs, community meeting spaces, an indoor accessible playground, transitional housing for youth, and a multicultural space.
The new facility will also have a first-of-its-kind cardiac and cancer rehabilitation program in partnership with Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre and the Hudson Regional Cancer Centre.
"We believe there will be something for everyone," added Tettmann.
In 2020, the YMCA closed its Grove Street location after serving the community for over 65 years.
Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall did not overlook the fact that discussions about a new YMCA in the city began about two decades ago.
"It was almost 20 years ago, right, that we started talking about a new location for the Y," he said. "It had many iterations since 2006 and 2007."
The City of Barrie and the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka inked a land-lease agreement for the Bayview Drive property, at $1 a month for three acres for 50 years.
The YMCA also received $2.5 million from the city toward the project.
Nuttall hammered home to anyone who felt building in the city's south end was the wrong choice.
He said Barrie's population was 146,000 in November 2022 and is 166,000 today, and it would be 175,000 people by the end of 2026.
"So when the Y opens, over 100,000 of those people will live in south Barrie," Nuttall said. "South Barrie is exploding and I think it's going to be incredible to meet the need."
The County of Simcoe chipped in $5 million to the Y project, money dedicated to the development of transitional housing for youth and a multicultural space.
In 2021, the province announced project funding worth $29.9 million.
The goal is to open the new YMCA in the latter half of 2027.
More about the project can be found here: 100reasonsy.ca.
