Calgary community groups decry displacement from Old YWCA building

Dozens of Calgary groups are raising the alarm, saying they are being forced by the city to relocate from a historic Beltline building by the end of the month.

The ‘Save the Old Y Coalition’ says 65 community agencies will be without a place to offer much-needed services come October, because the City of Calgary is putting up the lease for the historic YWCA building on 12 Avenue SW.

The group says the building has been a community hub since 1979 and its loss would “uproot an essential public gathering place, and leave a major gap in mental health, youth, arts, culture and many other services.”

“It makes no sense,” said Tara Laverdure, a member of the Save the Old Y Coalition. “The city is prepared to leave a heritage building empty, in the middle of the Beltline where these services are needed. I fear vacancy will lead to serious unintended consequences for the community and for the building.”

Save the Old Y is calling on the city to recognize the value of the services and groups that operate out of the building, prevent building vacancy, and protect the $7 million in public funds invested in the building.

In a statement to CityNews, the City of Calgary’s infrastructure services team says the city is looking for a tenant to maintain the heritage building.

“The City of Calgary owns the historic YWCA building,” reads the statement. “Community Wise resource centre was the tenant until they provided notice to terminate their lease. The city released an expression of interest on Sept. 16, 2025, seeking a tenant that can preserve this important heritage building and maintain a space for community to thrive.”

The city also says that because it’s a heritage building, the YWCA cannot be demolished, adding that they are focused on attracting a tenant who can operate the facility in accordance with its heritage status.

The group also wants to grant a lease to the Arusha Centre, a coalition collaborator, to steward the building while a long-term plan is made.

Gerald Wheatley, the manager of the Arusha Centre, says his organization has spent 40 of its 50 years in the building, and wants to stay there for the time being.

However, because the city is asking for expressions of interest from potential leaseholders, the current groups using the building can’t operate on an interim lease.

“As an owner of the property, it would be the city’s obligation to address both the needs of the organizations working out of the building, as well as the Beltline neighborhoods that are so affected,” Wheatley said.

He explains that a significant amount of public money has gone into updating the structure to heritage building standards, including work on the roof, windows, and foundation. Wheatley says upgrades have also been made to heating and electrical systems.

“The city isn’t willing to continue to put money into this building, despite having invested enough to make it a strong building envelope, [the city] decided that they want to dispose of it,” he explains. “And so we’re saying that those public funds need to be recognized and maintain the building for its public use, rather than selling it off.”

The application process for to lease the old YWCA, as well as the adjoining Beltline Aquatic Centre, started on Sept. 16 and is open until Dec. 1.

The city says the new leaseholder has the opportunity to rehabilitate the Beltline Pool and/or YWCA buildings to “create an iconic destination for arts, culture, or other innovative uses in Calgary.”

It adds that several community needs and amenity gaps have been identified within the Beltline community, which could be addressed at the location.

Suggested avenues from the city include accessible community-oriented goods and services, social and/or gathering opportunities, community and/or recreation programming, public event space (indoor/outdoor) opportunities, public and/or private recreation facilities, tech opportunities (e.g., indoor agriculture, robotic facility), combination with arts and cultural space for special events, office and retail opportunities (combination of office spaces with café-style services), or community hub or childcare services.