Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

YMCA adding two pool areas to youth center

By SHERYL KAY
Published April 27, 2007

The Bob Sierra Family YMCA is adding two pool areas to its Youth and Family Center, an 18-acre site behind Gaither High School that used to be the home of St. Timothy's Catholic Church.

The pools are among several major improvements to the site, which already boasts a 50-foot Alpine climbing tower.

A new zero-depth entry pool has four tiers and numerous run-through spray fountains. And a heated, junior Olympic-sized eight-lane competitive lap pool has three 15-foot-high slide tubes.

"It's going to be amazing," said Lauren Trotter, a Sickles High School senior who chairs a teen advisory board at Bob Sierra. "I see people bringing their friends, hanging by the pool, the snack bar, listening to music."

The notion of such a facility arose when it became evident that Bob Sierra had run out of room. Landlocked between cypress heads and housing developments, and with a growing membership of more than 13,000, the branch desperately needed new green space.

"We've got so many high schools in the area, and they just keep getting more full," said Ashley Packett, district marketing director at Bob Sierra. "We wanted to give teens an enriched atmosphere that would get them out of the malls and the parking lots and into a safe and positive environment."

To that end, the center created the advisory board. Teens such as Trotter have advised management on everything from what the pools should look like to what snacks should be served.

The original Bob Sierra location will remain open, with greater emphasis on water activities for seniors. The YMCA's swim team will move to the new pool, where it will benefit from the use of starting blocks not permitted in the other pool.

The expansion is expected to cost $5-million, a price somewhat inflated by construction cost increases in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The center is seeking to raise $800,000 for a second phase, which will include a 9,000-square-foot teen center.

Although the target date for the first big splash is mid May, nothing is firm, said Robert Wiggins, group vice president with the Tampa YMCA.

"With construction, it's a moving target," he said.

Still, he hopes to get the doors open before school ends.

[Last modified April 26, 2007, 08:10:28]