Old YMCA site -- LNN

By Connor Gunn

Former YMCA building 98% recycled

Feb 26, 2021 | 11:52 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB– What was once the old YMCA building in Lethbridge, is now an empty field.

As part of the city’s environmental deconstruction program, a minimum waste diversion rate of 90 per cent was established as a goal for the project.

The city surpassed that goal and recycled 98.01 per cent of the waste. The final report identified that 5.79 million kg of the 5.9 million kg total weight of material from the site was diverted from waste.

“The Facilities department at the City has been at this since around 2006, so achieving an above 90 per cent waste diversion on all our demo projects is pretty much the standard now,” says Dean Romeril, Property Manager in Facility Services.

“Hitting 98 per cent on this project is exceptional and is a great example of how deconstructions can be seen in a positive light.”

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The city vacated the old YMCA building once the Cor Van Raay YMCA at ATB Centre opened in 2019.

City Council voted in favour of decommissioning and demolishing after building inspection reports showed the facility to be in poor condition.

Removing the building was seen as the most economical option and one that aligns with the Civic Commons Master Plan from the city, so they tore it down.

Salvaged materials include:

• Boilers for heating the pool, pumps from the pool, and the wheelchair ramp lift all repurposed by the Town of Coaldale
• Exterior LED lighting fixtures reused at a local shop
• Interior light fixtures, security roll-down shutters, and hot water tank reused by contractor
• Bathroom faucets and fixtures, plus windows and doors donated and sold for reuse by individuals and businesses
• All lockers sold to individuals and businesses for reuse
• Basketball nets and backboards donate to staff for local backyard reuse
• YMCA hot tub signage acquired for reuse by local collector

When all project materials were removed from the site, the contractor cleaned up and leveled the area.

Romeril says he doesn’t know what will come next for the land, but it’s in the city’s hands now. The image below shows what the building used to look like.

Old YMCA buiilding