Palm Harbor residents waited seven years for their YMCA. Now they have a posh one just minutes away.
By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published October 25, 2004
PALM HARBOR - Last week, you could smell fresh paint, see workers making last-minute touches and sense the anticipation of a community that has waited seven years for the Greater Palm Harbor Branch YMCA to open.
Now it has.
"I've been dreaming about this Y," said Barb Owens of Ozona, who was exercising on an Arc Trainer, a high-tech cardio machine that she says is easy on the joints. "I've been traveling to Trinity and East Lake to work out, and now I can get here in five minutes. I love it."
Owens was one of the branch's 2,087 charter members who were invited to use the facility last week during a "soft opening."
Today, the much-anticipated, 14,000-square-foot facility at 1600 16th St. makes its debut to the public and members of other branches of the YMCA of the Suncoast. Its features include a wellness center, a group exercise room and a children's gym. A skate park and two sparkling pools with plenty of panache grace the grounds.
It all began in the late 1990s, when boosters of the Palm Harbor University High School swim team decided the team needed a pool of its own. Practice was 10 miles away at Clearwater High School. They began talks with the YMCA of the Suncoast and with the financial support of the community, a full-scale YMCA evolved.
The competitive pool is a stone's throw from the practice fields of Palm Harbor University High School. It has everything a competitive swimmer could want: eight 25-yard-long lanes with starting blocks, and an 111/2-foot-deep diving well with two 1-meter diving boards.
"The beauty of this is that the swim team can come right over to the pool without affecting the facility usage," said Randy McElwain, executive director of the Palm Harbor branch, the 10th branch to open under the parent operation, YMCA of the Suncoast.
Then there is the family pool with three lap lanes and a mini-water park. This cool way to spend a hot summer's day features two twisting water slides, a sloping beach entry, a bright yellow, pelican-shaped kiddie slide, and spray jets that send streams of water into the pool. Also featured are five cone-shaped buckets, which randomly fill up and tip over to drench the little ones.
"This is a great place for people to have birthday parties for their children," McElwain said. "We even provide a party coordinator."
The two pools are heated and will be used for swim teams, water aerobics, water safety instruction and other water activities. The lap pool also can be cooled to prevent swimmers from overheating in the summer.
The pool area features outside shower pods and bathhouses for swimmers.
Both the men's and women's locker rooms have a child-size sink and a changing table for babies. And here's another thoughtful touch: a swimsuit water-extractor so no one goes home with a soggy suit.
All of the partitions and lockers are made with a durable, non-rusting plastic that doesn't support mold, bacteria or fungus.
"This is by far the most durable and easy-to-maintain facility we've ever built," said Tim Ackerman, vice president of properties for the YMCA of the Suncoast.
An after-school skate park with a multitude of ramps and quarter-pipes opened in March and was recently moved to its permanent location near the pool area. It was built by volunteers with a grant from the American Eagle Outfitters Foundation and KaBoom, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. The skate park area contains picnic tables and a grill.
"This is an outreach effort of the YMCA," McElwain said. "You don't have to be a member to skate here."
The park is supervised, and fees for non-members are $25 a year; there is no fee for YMCA members.
The exterior of the building is painted in coffee and cream colors, the interior in ivories, yellows and earthy tans and browns. Sunlight fills the hallways from two skylights. The electrical and plumbing systems have been designed with future expansion in mind.
The 3,000-square-foot wellness center contains new, biomechanically correct muscle-making machines and cardio equipment. There are 15 Cybex Eagle strength trainers, 10 treadmills, two Arc Trainers, several bikes, elliptical machines and rubber-coated weights.
Gary Ford Jr., a fitness instructor and personal trainer, said he particularly likes the abdominal trainer.
"It's very different than most because it isolates the abdominals and supports the back," he said. "I swore I wouldn't like it at first, but now I've turned completely around and love it."
Fitness classes will be taught in the 1,400-square-foot group exercise room on glossy hardwood floors. They include yoga, Pilates, cardio dance, step, tai chi, teen boot camp, self-defense and body sculpting.
The Kid's Zone, a children's playroom and babysitting area, is bedecked in bright primary colors and has nearly everything a kid could ask for, except a TV set.
"We don't want them sitting around watching TV," McElwain said.
The 1,300-square-foot room is designed for children 6 weeks to 10 years old and has designated play areas for various ages. A jungle gym keeps the older ones entertained while others areas are designed with babies, toddlers and preschoolers in mind. Kid's Zone has its own bathroom with a tiny potty and sink.
And that's only Phase I.
Plans include an atrium-type lobby with a covered drive-through entrance, an expanded wellness center, a larger group exercise room, an indoor basketball court, a family activity center, a teen center, an expanded kids' gym, more locker rooms and parking. A rock-climbing wall is also on the wish list.
"When we're done, it (the facility) will be close to 40,000 square feet," McElwain said.
Additions will be made as fund-raising permits. The present building and its 8.5-acre site cost about $4.2-million, she said.
The YMCA of the Suncoast is a charitable, nonprofit organization with branches in Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties. Membership rates vary according to age and family structure, and residents of the Palm Harbor Fire District will receive $25 off their join fee. Monthly membership rates range from $30 for a youth or young adult to $62 for a family.
"We do provide scholarship assistance for those who need it," McElwain said. "The YMCA doesn't turn anyone away due to inability to pay."
