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TERRI D. REEVESThe facility is scheduled to open in October, seven years after Palm Harbor's swim team sought a closer pool.
PALM HARBOR - In the late 1990s when boosters of the swim team at Palm Harbor University High School sought a pool closer to home, they turned to the YMCA of the Suncoast for help.
A plan was hatched.
And now, with the community's financial support, not only is the area getting two swimming pools but a full-scale YMCA to boot.
"It's been a seven-year effort that has come to fruition and I am thrilled and honored to be a part of it," said Randy McElwain, who last week was named the executive director of the Greater Palm Harbor Branch YMCA. "Everything is running smoothly and on schedule." McElwain will officially begin her new job on Sept. 1.
The facility at 1600 16th St., north of Nebraska Avenue and next to Palm Harbor University High School, sits on an 8.5-acre site surrounded by woods. It will be the 10th branch to open under the parent operation, YMCA of the Suncoast.
The first of three phases will open in October, featuring a 14,000-square-foot building, two swimming pools and a skate park. It is expected to cost about $4.25-million.
McElwain, currently the associate executive director of the North Pinellas Branch YMCA in East Lake said the facility will be painted in earth tones to blend with the natural surroundings.
The exterior will be mocha and cream; the interior will be ivories, cool greens and earthy tans and browns. The children's play area will be decorated in primary colors.
The building's shell is complete, and work continues inside.
Features include Corian countertops, porcelain tile corridors, rubber flooring in the wellness center and nonrusting solid plastic lockers and partitions.
"Everything is designed to be durable and attractive," McElwain said. "We are taking all the knowledge and experience we gained over the years and combining it with all the things we've wanted to do before and couldn't afford and doing it here."
The building will house a wellness center with strength and cardio fitness equipment, a group exercise and dance room with a suspended wooden floor, a nursery and indoor playground.
Both pools are outdoors and will be heated and open year-round.
One pool, designed for competition, will be 25 yards long and have eight lanes with an 111/2-foot-deep diving well and two, diving boards just over 3 feet long. The second will be a family pool with three lap lanes, two water slides and five water buckets that fill up, tip over and drench swimmers. One area will have a sloping entrance similar to a beach.
Both pools will have outdoor bathrooms and be used for swim teams, water aerobics, water safety instruction, scuba classes and other water activities.
A skate park opened in March and is accessible Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to dusk during the summer. Hours will expand when construction is complete. It was built by volunteers with a grant from the American Eagle Outfitters Foundation and KaBoom, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Other phases of the YMCA include plans to expand the wellness center, create a permanent lobby and add a larger aerobics room, an indoor gymnasium, more restrooms and additional parking. But more money needs to be raised before site work can begin, McElwain said.
Later, YMCA officials hope to expand the building to 35,000-square-feet, adding a family activity center, a teen center and a special needs locker facility and multipurpose room. Conceptual plans also include a rock-climbing wall.
McElwain, 42, began her career with the YMCA in 1994 as accounting director and chief financial officer in Connecticut. She moved to the North Pinellas Branch in 1998, and served as membership director and later associate executive director.
She has a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
"Randy is the right choice for leadership," said Scott Goyer, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of the Suncoast. "She has proven leadership skills, is very outgoing and personable, cares for those she works with, is very conscientious and just a wonderful person."
The YMCA of the Suncoast is a charitable, nonprofit organization with branches in Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties.
"No one is turned away due to inability to pay," Goyer said.
THE GREATER PALM HARBOR BRANCH YMCAEXPECTED OPENING: October 2004
LOCATION: 1600 16th Street in Palm Harbor
COST: $4.25-million for first phase
SIZE: 14,000 square feet initially; about 35,000 square feet when third phase is complete
FEATURES: Wellness center, two swimming pools, children's play area, group exercise/dance studio, teen skate park
CHARTER MEMBERSHIPS: call 727-785-2758 for more information or e-mail bkridler@suncoastymca.org
- Source: YMCA of the Suncoast