The Truth Staff
The new Y is now open and the community will benefit greatly from the added space and services that will be available. The new facility, on Bancroft Street, between 14th Street and Franklin Avenue, will undoubtedly be a major boon to the Warren-Sherman neighborhood and residents, workers and students from neighborhoods from far away.
Since the downtown Y on Summit Street will be closed, the Wayman Palmer Y will have an influx of new members from more than just neighborhood residents.
The 50,000 square-foot building, constructed at a cost of more than $28 million is a dramatic improvement over the 50-year-old building it replaces.
The new Wayman Palmer has a gymnasium with NCAA-approved flooring, a kids zone, multipurpose meeting rooms, state-of-the-art computers, among its many amenities. Most importantly, for many in the neighborhood, it will have a pool.
The pool, not yet finished, will contain sections for beginners on up to a section for lifeguard instruction. The pool should be completed later this spring.
Partnering with Toledo Public Schools, the building has a whole wing for a Head Start program, said Gordon MacRitchie, YMCA of Greater Toledo, chief development officer. That wing has its own separate entrance and will contain four classrooms for toddlers and pre-K students. In the same area will be a daycare center for those TPS students who are parents. They can drop their kids off in the morning, go to school and pick up their young ones later in the afternoon.
There are so many additional facilities for every generation but children will enjoy some exceptional opportunities. The new computers, for example, will enable the Y to “have an e-gaming league for kids to join,” said MacRitchie. E-gaming leagues are gaining in popularity around the country, he added.
Also in the Kids Zone are a slide indoor playground and activity rooms for exercise classes.
For families, there is a family lock-room with “changing suites for different sizes,” said MacRitchie. Some of the changing rooms have showers as well.
The Wayman Palmer is now open for members and memberships are available on an income based sliding scale. Families and individuals can also apply for scholarships.