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YMCA expands presence in city
By JON WILSON, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- A few years ago it was a neighborhood drug hole. Now the Harbordale property boasts a new, $400,000 branch YMCA to help youngsters learn and give adults another shot at earning a high school diploma. The Harbordale YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg, 2421 Fourth St. S, also is the first branch YMCA to serve the Midtown area since the one in Melrose Park closed in the early 1970s. Shabazz Rogers III, program director at the new branch, said he hopes that Dean Mohr, longtime leader of the Melrose Y who died in 1983, can be memorialized in the building. The facility also represents the most impressive real estate development in Harbordale for years. "Really anywhere around here," said Theresa McEachern, president of the neighborhood association. "This is just phenomenal. There has been a lot of housing activity in (nearby) Bartlett Park, but nothing of this magnitude." The 6,700-square-foot building has four classrooms, a separate computer room with space for eight stations, a cavernous all-purpose room that can be converted for half-court basketball, a small kitchen and a staff office. The branch opens Wednesday and will immediately serve about 60 youngsters who belong to the Y Achievers, an educational program for children and youths in early elementary school through high school. Created by former YMCA executive director John Cannon in 1993, the Y Achievers was first conducted at St. Joseph's Church on 22nd Avenue S and, more recently, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 2401 Fifth St. S. The branch's most important mission will be to enhance the Y Achievers program. It emphasizes the importance of education and works on building self-esteem. One of the elements emphasized for teenagers is abstinence from sex, drugs and alcohol. Academic skills are sharpened in preparation for standardized tests, including college entrance exams. Summer programs may serve up to 100 youngsters, Rogers said. Rogers, 38, has been with the YMCA for eight years. He also plays traditional African drums with Dundu Dole West African Ballet. While youngsters are most important element, the branch likely will serve some adults, too. "One of my dreams is to have a GED program here," Rogers said, referring to the General Educational Development test dropouts can take to earn the equivalent of a high school diploma. Indeed, a GED program operated in conjunction with the Pinellas Technical Education Center is "pretty much a given," said Karen Galinowski, the YMCA's vice president and executive director. Other programs for youths and adults are likely to be offered by this fall, Galinowski said. The YMCA bought the property from the city government, which acquired it four years ago. The city then demolished several buildings that had earned reputations as drug dens and fire traps. They had been among the first properties targeted when Harbordale residents and their allies began anti-drug marches. Construction began on the Harbordale branch in September, just as the new Jim and Heather Gills YMCA was opening in the Central Plaza area. A federal grant and a contribution from longtime YMCA supporter Lois Naylor financed the branch.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
