The official opening day for The Steve & Sally Stavro Family YMCA at 907 Kingston Rd., just west of Victoria Park Avenue, is Monday, August 15th.
Starting this week, people can sign up online to take a tour of the new 63,990-square-foot “community center,” which will include a full-size gym and two swimming pools, as well as a large gym and exercise areas. The fully accessible facility will also offer youth programs and multipurpose spaces for local groups and programming outside of the YMCA. So far, more than 1,100 tours have been booked.
“The neighborhood was waiting for us. We really appreciate everyone’s patience,” Mehdi Zobeiry, general manager of The Steve & Sally Stavro Family YMCA, told CP24 on Tuesday.
Previously known as the Kingston Road YMCA, the facility was originally slated to open in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a “big dent in our plans,” Zobeiry said.
He said several factors, including health and safety regulations, pandemic lockdowns and the need to shift resources, not to mention a whole host of challenges in the construction industry, delayed the center’s opening by two and a half years.
“But the good story is that we’re opening our doors on August 15,” Zobeiry said, adding that while most programs and services will be available on opening day, more offerings will be added in September based on “community needs. “
The YMCA has had a presence in Toronto’s Upper Beach area since the 1950s, when the much smaller East City YMCA location opened in the same spot. This venue closed in 2015 and was subsequently demolished.
The new Steve & Sally Stavro Family YMCA is located on two floors of the new Beech House condominium at Kingston Road and Balsam Avenue. This project is the result of a partnership between the YMCA of Greater Toronto and developer Bob Mitchell of Mitchell and Associates.
