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One city councillor says the closure of Calgary’s only centrally located YMCA should be a “wake-up call” about the need to invest in the struggling downtown.
YMCA Calgary announced Thursday that the Gray Family YMCA in Eau Claire will permanently close, citing “challenges in the downtown environment” that were a problem well before the COVID-19 pandemic forced recreation centres to shut their doors.
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Closure of Eau Claire YMCA another blow to Calgary's inner city Back to video
Shannon Doram, YMCA Calgary president and CEO, said a decade ago the Eau Claire YMCA was a “bustling” facility, with as many as 10,500 members at its peak. She said about half of that membership was made of downtown workers who would come to exercise before or after work, but go to a different YMCA close to where they lived on weekends.