THUNDER BAY – The Underground Gym will have to look elsewhere for a new home, after the city rejected a request to donate a city-owned property at Leith and Hardisty streets to the organization. Officials say the request came too late, after the process to sell off the property was already underway.
Peter Panetta operated the Underground Gym youth facility for more than 15 years on Simpson Street. That location was damaged by a broken water pipe late last year.
Panetta appealed to the city to donate the Hardisty Street property, part of a three-storey brick structure which used to house the offices of Bending Lake Iron. The city came into possession of the building due to outstanding taxes.
At Monday’s city council meeting, the city announced it had instead approved the sale of the property to a private business, which owns the other half of the building. Mayor Bill Mauro said that process had gone too far to change course.
“At the time a request was received to donate the property, the City had already entered into a conditional agreement to sell the building to the owner of the other half of the building,” he stated in a release.
The city also suggested the building may not have been ideal for the Underground Gym, pointing to building code issues, needed environmental approvals, and large liens on the property.
Mauro encouraged the organization to seek support from existing city programs designed to help non-profits, such as the Community Partnership Fund.
