YMCA in Complexe Guy-Favreau to close over budget shortfall

People who use the YMCA in the Guy-Favreau building in downtown Montreal are calling on the federal government to lower the rent so that the Ycan stay open.

The YMCA says it will have to close its doors May 31 because it can no longer afford the cost of running the community centre and gym.

"We attempted to make things right, but it's just not possible. Over the last three years we've been losing money. It's not possible to continue the operations under these conditions," said Stphane Vaillancourt, the CEO of the YMCAs of Quebec.

Gym, meeting place for Chinese community

In 1984, the federal government expropriated a number ofbuildings in Montreal's Chinatown to buildComplexe Guy-Favreau, which houses government offices such as Passport Canada.

In exchange, the governmentoffered the YMCA a $1 lease each year for 20 years to manage a gym and community centre for the Chinese community.

Vaillancourttold CBC that the rent's been rising ever since 2006, when that contract expired. Now the premises havebecome unaffordable.

The YMCA Guy-Favreau has 5,500 annual users and 2,200 of them are YMCA members. Vaillancourt said the facilityoffers important community services to the Chinese community and to the federal employees who work in the building.

Sylvaine Roy, who has been going to the YMCA for the past 25 years, considers it a lot more than just a gym.

"I learned about compassion and about tolerance, about joy, and it deeply, for sure, changed me."

Christa Corriveau, who goes to the centre twice a day, every day, said she's devastated.

"I run at lunchtime and I lift weights in the evening, so it's really an integral part of my day."

Corriveau and many other members hope the federal government will do something to help the YMCA stay open.