The new Downtown
YMCA is nearing completion, and has announced April 24 as its grand opening date.
The full-service facility will occupy 44,000 square feet at the site of the former G.C. Murphy store as part of Millcraft Industries' Market Square Place development. The facility will be a major tenant on Market Square, which is currently undergoing a $5.1 million renovation, and is expected to emerge in late summer 2010 as a pedestrian-friendly, European-style piazza.
The Market Square Y, officially named the PNC YMCA, was designed by DRS Architects, and Massaro Corporation is the builder.
The Market Square location will replace the Y's current 100,000-square-foot Boulevard of the Allies spot, where it has been for some 20 years. Though the Market Square facility will be smaller, its layout will actually increase efficiency and include more exercise equipment, says Kevin Bolding, YMCA district president.
The new Y will include a 25-meter pool, men's and women's locker rooms, all-new exercise equipment and studios for yoga, Pilates, spinning, Zumba and more. The new Y, however, will not have a gymnasium or basketball courts, as Bolding says that those amenities have proved unpopular with the Downtown Y members. The Y will also offer many of the same services as it does at its current location, including nutrition, smoking cessation and weight management classes.
"YMCA is not just what we are doing Downtown. YMCA is here to be an asset to the Pittsburgh community," says Bolding. "It's more than spin classes or weights or the pool. We do a lot of health and wellness programming, and raise funds to make sure everyone can afford to be a member."
The Downtown Y currently has about 1,500 members, and another 1,000 members belong to the U.S. Steel Tower YMCA that opened in 2008. The Y is looking to attract new members with its new location--Bolding says YMCA hopes to increase membership between to the two sites to 4,000.
The Downtown Y currently employees about 150, and will be hiring additional fitness staff members over the next six months, Bolding says.
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Writer: Caralyn Green
Source: Kevin Bolding, district vice president, YMCA
Image courtesy YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh