Our hope would be to begin construction in 2023 and be completed towards the end of 2024 or early 2025. The early planning stages are complete so we will be able to move quickly once the funds have been pledged.

Our membership cost structure will remain predominately the same. We are not relying on increased fees to support the project. The project will be financially supported by donations toward the construction of the project and an increase in members. No real changes will happen in the cost of membership as a result of the new building.

The new building is the same square footage of the existing facilities. The new facility will operate much more efficiently, so we will enjoy a drop in operating costs. The current facility is inefficient in the layout and with the 2 separate pools we operate now, it is very costly to operate and maintain. Our current facilities are aged and are very expensive to operate. The new facility will ultimately cost less to operate.

We did explore this option. It was very clear feedback we received from our consultants and Architect firm that the existing facility has a poor layout, has way too much locker room space, has racquetball courts that are underutilize and has 2 pools on separate ends of the facility. If we remodeled the existing facility, we would still have a poor layout and not a modern YMCA with the space and programming areas that will attract people of all ages.

The board of directors was quick to determine that building a new downtown facility with Best in Class Childcare and an updated East Branch would provide our community with modern facilities that will transform our community for many years to come.

Our strategic partners and the board of directors also feel that a new facility is the best use of community dollars and these facilities will attract and retain our local workforce which is critical to the long term stability of our community.

The child development center will be expanded from 305 to 350 children and will be a best in class facility with the ability to train instructors from child care facilities from all over NW Ohio and further if beneficial.

Our aquatics spaces will provide fun and exciting options for youth to enjoy that our current pools do not offer. These spaces will be a hub for good family activity time.

The cooking kitchen will offer abundant opportunity to teach people of all ages to prepare meals leading to a healthier lifestyle.

Our airnasium space will provide for multiple activities to happen in an outdoor setting for many months each year. These will include wellness, play space for CDC children and many programs we are not currently able to offer.

The Each Branch will remain one of the best facilities in NW Ohio and will have expanded lounge and viewing spaces. We will also have improved locker rooms and an additional high bay space.

The Kindness Café and lounge spaces will allow the YMCA to be the social hub many are looking for. Commonly known as the “Third Place” where we provide that place that comes after home and work. A sense of belonging and having a place to socialize are a very important aspect of the design of our new YMCA.

We will absolutely explore these options and have asked our Architects to incorporate this into the final design of the facility.

Our design is the result of many hours and much hard work by the YMCA staff, board and volunteers. However, once we begin the final design stage we will be looking for further input before anything is finalized. We welcome feedback on design and programming and would encourage you to provide any feedback you have.

We absolutely will be improving the East Branch as part of this campaign. Key features of the improvements are, expanded check in and lobby, lounge area added, locker room upgrades including adding family locker rooms, added viewing area on the 2nd floor for tennis match spectators and a high bay multipurpose space added.

Our goal is for the East Branch to be the best racquet facility in NW Ohio.

We have actually completed 2 feasibility studies leading up to our recent plans. We have also had our consultants American City Bureau update these based on current community leader meetings and surveys of members. We have also worked with GRO Architects on the project and they have provided all options leading us to the current plan and design. GRO has been a part of over 600 YMCA projects and has lots of data behind the spaces we have created as being ones that provide the most impact for the community. The end result will allow our local community to have best in class offerings that will have a long standing impact on our community.

We have been very diligent to acquire properties over the last 15 years to prepare for this project. The map in the facility tab will depict this. By building a new facility, it will also allow our members to enjoy using the current downtown facility uninterrupted while the new downtown facility is being built.