YMCA, SFU and SCDC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding as a ‘foundation for a potential YMCA centre’

The YMCA has been interested in opening a second Surrey location for some time, and the company is now revealing it is in talks with SFU.

“There is a Memorandum of Understanding between the YMCA of Greater Vancouver, Simon Fraser University and SCDC (Surrey City Development Corporation) that is acting as a foundation for a potential YMCA centre of community to be explored,” said Kelly Walker, marketing and communications director for the YMCA of Greater Vancouver.

But, she added, there are no “design, details or confirmed location specifics as of yet.”

The project is in the “very preliminary stages,” noted Walker.

In 2016, the YMCA revealed its interest in building a second location in Surrey.

That facility, set to be built in City Centre, is expected to open in 2021.

READ MORE: New YMCA to be built in Surrey’s City Centre neighbourhood

David Gaskin, YMCA board member and chief financial officer for Coast Capital Savings, told Surrey City Council in 2016 that the new Surrey YMCA “will be an important tool in response to the growing needs of a community in transition.

“City Centre is evolving as a dynamic regional centre which, over the next decade, will experience remarkable transformations,” Gaskin added. “This is exactly the right place and the right time for a YMCA centre of community.”

It is expected the new Surrey facility will be 60,000 square feet, have an aquatics centre with two pools, a fitness centre, a gym, multipurpose rooms and a family development centre.

In April, 2017 the provincial government committed $11 million to YMCA expansion throughout the Lower Mainland – $3 million to expand its youth mindfulness program and $8 to support existing infrastructure projects.

Surrey’s existing Tong-Louie YMCA is located at 14988 57th Ave.