Brandon Family YMCA Showcases $100,000 Worth of Changes

The goal was to celebrate by month’s end the renovations under way and almost complete at the Brandon Family YMCA on Kingsway Road.

Not sure everything would be ready in time, the staff nevertheless decided to make good on the leap-year benefit of one extra day in February, regardless of what still needed to be done.

True to plan, the staff of the opened its doors to guests to celebrate Feb. 29 the $100,000 worth of renovations and equipment in place and coming soon to the facility.

“We decided we were going to leap into our renovations and leap into getting the word out,” said Diana Niles, development director.

Enter the facility and to the right is a view of the expanded Wellness Center, with new equipment in place to furnish the cardio section, which along with the fitness center in back accounts for some 5,500 square feet.

The additional 2,000 square feet came into play by refashioning the youth activity area, which has been moved to another section of the facility.

That area, for kids ages 6 and up, is taking shape in place of the three, now-closed racquetball courts, and will include a computer section as well.

“We only had a small number of members using the racquetball courts on a regular basis and we needed the space,” Niles said. “We let members know beforehand they were closing and we had only one complaint.”

The youth activity center was still under construction Feb. 29, but carpeting was expected by week’s end with furnishings in place expected by early March.

Niles said the renovations help support “the three pillars” of the YMCA’s work: youth development, healthy living and social responsibility — and especially so the first two.

As Niles put it: “How can we best serve our members so they can have a healthier life? Making better use of our space, and that’s what we did here.”

 Joe Bilotta and Larry Veague work in the Wellness Center.

“It’s great new technology,” Veague said about the equipment added. “For this location, it’s long overdue.”

“Everybody’s excited about the new equipment, a different way to work the same muscles,” Bilotta said. “There’s touch-screen capability for the treadmills and ellipticals and iPod capabilities as well. Plug in your iPods and you can watch movies and listen to music as you work out.”