Mayor Mat Siscoe says the city tried to reach agreement on use of building, however cost to bring it up to par too expensive
Plans to replace the former YMCA building in St. Catharines with four apartment buildings is coming along.
Mayor Mat Siscoe says developer Atria's request for parking adjustments has been approved, with construction expected to start this year.
He adds the addition of 1,900 residential units will help the area. "Fairview Mall is doing a great job of selling their spaces, there's been some turnover, and I think with the grocery store there, and the Home Depot right there, I think you're going to see a lot of reinvigoration of the retail in the area."
He's anticipating construction to last 5 to 10 years, the final work to include ground level commercial space.
An agreement couldn't be reached to renovate the Y. "We released the 3rd party engineering assessment we had done by an outside firm, and it agreed somewhere between $15 and $20-million in the short and medium term, and that's after the city spent a lot of money to purchase the facility."
He sympathizes with losing the Y, as his own kids learned to swim there.
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