Montreal Chinatown residents want their sports centre back as shelter closes

The homeless shelter at Complex Guy Favreau in Montreal's Ville-Marie borough is slated to close in a week, and residents and business leaders in nearby Chinatown say they want it turned into a sports centre.

They say they want the building to be renovated to offer basketball, martial arts, swimming and other activities.

This comes after the neighbourhood's YMCA closed in 2019 despite efforts by the community to keep it open as long as possible.

"It's left a bit of a void because it was a community centre," said Chinatown resident Phil Chu. "It was more than a gym. It was a sports centre, it was a community centre. I met my girlfriend at that sports centre. We have a child together now."

The city then decided to use the space as a homeless shelter, which caused concern for many living in the area.

The shelter is now being moved to Verdun, and those in Chinatown say they should get their community centre back.

They're hoping to convince the federal officials who run Complex Guy Favreau to help make that happen.

"Everybody used that centre as a gathering place where the community could get together and talk about what's happening," said Bill Wong with  the Montreal Chinese Catholic Mission. "Those are things that are really missing here in Chinatown."

Nevertheless, plans to move the shelter to Verdun for the winter have caused uproar in the neighbourhood.

Verdun Mayor Marie-Andree Mauger said there was no time for the consultation.

"We take so many things into consideration," she said. "Since it's a temporary situation, it's for six months, it's not for the long term, we didn't have so much time ahead... We didn't have that time to make a consultation for a short-term winter shelter."

An information session is slated to happen in Verdun for all residents on Nov. 2, where council members are expected to address concerns.