STANWOOD — Workers have dug out pools, put up stairs and started installing windows at the new Stanwood-Camano YMCA.
The 47,000-square-foot building is quickly taking shape at 7213 267th St. NW. Construction is expected to finish Aug. 9 and a grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 3.
The YMCA of Snohomish County started programs in Stanwood in 2010 and has been working toward building a center since then. The nonprofit has raised about $17 million so far from more than 160 donors. Organizers hope to raise $260,000 more, said Mary Bredereck, executive director of the Stanwood-Camano YMCA.
By the end of May, 757 people had purchased memberships to the new Y. More than 140 memberships are Silver Sneakers, a program for older adults looking to get or stay healthy.
Memberships are being sold in the Y’s temporary Stanwood studio at 7009 265th St. NW. The joining fee is discounted through at least the end of June.
A construction crew of 75 has been at work on the new building since late August.
The community seems to be excited for the new center, Scott Tallquist said. Tallquist is the senior project engineer with GLY Construction and lives in Stanwood.
People from a retirement center down the street have been walking over to watch the construction, he said. GLY workers did a presentation for a class at nearby Twin Cities Elementary, where students examined the construction of the YMCA for a school project.
The building is more than 80 percent complete, Tallquist said.
Inside, there’s a community room to the right of the entryway. It connects to the pools, which take up most of the right side of the building. There’s a six-lane lap pool and a second pool with a lazy river and a separate shallow area for young children.
“When we were conceptualizing this, the biggest priorities we heard from people were pool, pool and pool,” Bredereck said.
The Stanwood High School swim team plans to practice and compete at the pool. There are lifts to make it accessible for people with disabilities.
On the other side of the building from the pools, there’s a full-size basketball court that can be divided into two half courts.
From above, a workout room looks out over the pools on one side and the basketball court on the other.
Parents can watch their children play or swim while they work out, Tallquist said.
“There’s a lot of locations where you can look down into the pool,” project engineer Jake Reinhard, of Snohomish, said. “(Designers) did a great job of making the natatorium a central feature.”
There are group exercise rooms on the first and second floors for classes such as Zumba, Pilates and aerobics. The second floor also has a large room dedicated to spin classes.
A demonstration kitchen for cooking and nutrition classes is being put in next to a lounge area with a fireplace and a second-story view out the entryway windows.
Local artist Jack Archibald is donating a stained glass window to go up at the entryway.
YMCA membership includes two hours of child care seven days a week.
The new building’s childcare area has separate rooms for infants to 6-year-olds and 6- to 12-year-olds. A play structure called the “adventure zone” is planned for the older kids’ area.
The location of the new center is ideal because there are three schools within a mile: Stanwood High School, Port Susan Middle School and Twin City Elementary, Reinhard said.
As workers put the finishing touches on the Stanwood-Camano YMCA, the countywide organization is starting to raise money for a new Everett YMCA on Colby Avenue. Construction on that building could start as soon as mid-2018.
For more information, visit ymca-snoco.org.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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