A significant milestone in the construction of the YMCA and Pan Am/Parapan Am Athlete’s Village in Toronto was celebrated with the ‘topping off’ of the facility—the structure has reached its highest point.
Built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards, the 7618-m2 (82,000-sf) centre will serve as the Athlete’s Village during the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games and will then transition into a community centre in the fall of 2016. The facility will include training areas, gym, pool, and exercise centres.
Various sustainable elements were incorporated into the design, including a 5574-m2 (60,000-sf) vegetated roof, efficient lighting and mechanical assemblies, and water-retention technologies.
Alex Versluis, YMCA’s vice-president of property management told Construction Canada Online about the community involvement in the project, located in Toronto’s Waterfront West Don Lands. Specifically, the community will be invited to participate in constructing the accessible portions of the vegetated roof.
“It will be a space to engage the community and get them physically involved in the new centre,” said Versluis. “After the games, it will be a community gathering place.”
Various healthy living programs will be offered to the growing community, which is expected to see a population increase of 13.5 per cent by 2020. This project is the first of 10 the YMCA currently has in developing stages in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
In addition to the YMCA and Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, this project is a joint effort between Waterfront Toronto, Infrastructure Ontario, and the provincial government. At the ‘topping up’ event held this week, donations from Toronto philanthropists Krystal Koo and Michael Copper were also acknowledged and the facility’s name will be the Copper Koo Family YMCA.
