Page 8 - Renovation Project: York Club 2023

Inadequate Facilities

While originally built as a private home in the early 1890s, the building has been renovated and adapted to its membership’s
evolving needs since becoming The YORK Club in 1909. While the Club has reached gender parity, its facilities are far from equal.
Additionally, member usage of the Club has changed significantly, placing greater demands on areas of the Club not previously well-
used. This has created strain on many of the facilities, and on the staff’s ability to meet the rigorous service standards expected. In
order to continue to attract New Members and maintain current Member satisfaction, changes are required.

Kitchen - The current Kitchen is 30 years old and not up to code; there
is no fire protection, equipment is out of date, the workflow of the
space is suboptimal, and the layout is no longer suitable for current
dining demands.

Garden - Access to the Garden for food service is too far from the
kitchen, there is no servery in the area, lighting is inadequate and the
pathway and logistics for service are unsafe. Access to washrooms is
compromised for diners with mobility issues. The Garden runs sold-out
lunches and dinners 60% of days it is open; additional seating or
standing space would be welcomed by the membership.

Washrooms & Cloakroom – There are only 3 washroom facilities in
the building for women, and the only accessible washroom is on the
third floor at the back of a cloakroom. Given the increase in female
membership and accompanying guests, wait times for washrooms can
be long and the cloakroom facilities often cannot meet the demand.
The only accessible washroom for men is in the basement. Most
glaringly, Garden diners who need access to an accessible washroom
must go around the building, inside the side door, up a mobility lift,
and then up or down the elevator. This takes a minimum of 20 minutes
to reach an accessible washroom, and if the elevator is down the
accessible washrooms are simply no longer available.
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