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Urban Energy
The Guardian (Charlottetown)
The Province, Thursday, December 6, 2007, p. A4
YMCA transformed into "Y"
Architect turning city landmark into luxurious condominiums while maintaining the feel of its former life
Dave Stewart
A Charlottetown architect is in the midst of a stunning transformation of one of the city's most famous landmarks.
Ole Hammarlund took The Guardian on an updated tour of the old YMCA building on Prince Street Tuesday, the first go-around of the venerable structure since work began earlier this year.
The old gymnasium is gone, divided into three luxurious condominiums featuring cathedral ceilings and loads of open space, a stairway to a deck on the roof (the doors are a sloped glass design) and a bedroom overlooking your main living room.
The bowling lanes are also history and barely recognizable even to someone familiar with the building. It's now a parking garage.
The squash courts are still there but not for long, they'll also be turned into two-level condos.
The swimming pool is still there but Hammarlund says it would be too expensive for him to keep it and operate it for the tenants.
It's easy to see the building has become quite a passion for the Charlottetown architect. He's created a company to oversee the project, affectionately calling it whY Development Inc. Hammarlund has also retained much of the building's former infrastructure.
The floors patrons used to roll their bowling balls down have now become tops for 500-pound tables, the balls themselves will be kept and used as decoration, the old 2,000-pound safe is still there to greet tenants as they come in the front door and old glass has been used as windows in the elevator shaft.
Make no mistake, though, this building is as modern as they come.
"In many ways, this building is as green as the (Jean) Canfield building," Hammarlund said, referring to the new federal government building on University Avenue. "We're trying to use as much of the old building as possible."
Hammarlund's wife, Karen Lips, said it was important to keep the feel of the YMCA.
"We considered it's filled with the memories of an entire generation who came to this building," Lips said, noting that many people have dropped by to see what they've done to the place.
Most units are two levels and range in price from $145,000 to $318,000. Hammarlund said he welcomes tenants who want to use the condos, not only to live in but also work in. Something like an art gallery perhaps, he says, but nothing too commercial.
One thing is certain. There's no need to worry about whether how big the Christmas tree is. Considering the ceiling for the 16 units is the roof, a 16-foot tree would look very nice.
Valerie Stewart of Murray Harbour is one of two tenants now calling the whY building home.
"The open concept and high ceilings and ability to have input into what would make it a nice place," Stewart said inside her condominium. "I had also heard that Ole was really precise."
Stewart has been living in her unit for four months and plans on starting an aerobics class in the 1,700-square-foot loft unit in the near future.
