The YMCA of Owen Sound Grey Bruce is getting ready to move offices so that all of their administrative staff can be in one building.
Members of the organization from the Community Initiatives & Employment Services as well as the organization’s association services will be moving into the former Owen Sound Sun Times building at the corner of 9th Street East and 3rd Avenue East.
The Sun Times building sold this past spring.
YMCA CEO Sarah Cowley says the organization looked for almost two years to find a more efficient way to have offices for their staff when they were told the old newspaper building was going to be available.
She says that the 12,000 square-foot office space was ideal for her staff to work out of one office, rather than three.
Some staff work out of the professional centre downtown, while others work out of the Health, Fitness, and Aquatic Centre.
“When we were looking for space… finding a location in a downtown centre where it’s accessible for many members of the community who don’t have transportation while also having parking for staff was going to be a real key thing for us, and I think this is one of the few buildings in downtown Owen Sound that really would have suited our purposes.”
Renovations are underway, and the affected staff will be moving into their new office space in March 2024.
The clients of the YMCA who would be most affected are the ones who use the Community Initiatives & Employment Services, as well as those who access Settlement Language Services starting in the spring.
Other than that, the change will be most felt internally.
“From the administration side of things, that will be felt more internally as we look at our efficiencies and communication and the way in which we’re able to work together when we’re not centred out of three different office locations.”
As for the offices that will open up within the Health, Fitness, and Aquatic Centre, Cowley says that they’ll be using feedback from their community engagement survey to come up with what to use those spaces for based on community needs.
