EVERETT – Margaret McLeod said she’ll be saddened when the YMCA moves out of its 85-year-old downtown brick building in the next 10 to 12 years.

Herald file photo Girls take swim lessons at the Everett YMCA in 1961.

“There’s a lot of character in that building,” the Everett woman said as she stood in the shadow of the old Y on Monday afternoon.

But McLeod, 58, quickly added, “It’s a really cranky old building. Parts of that building are dismal. I think replacing it is a good idea.”

The YMCA of Snohomish County has been considering for more than two decades whether to abandon its downtown Everett building, at 2720 Rockefeller Ave. The complex also includes buildings constructed in the 1960s and 1980s.

Over the past few months, Y officials have decided it just doesn’t make sense to spend millions of dollars renovating a complex that will never be as good as a brand new one.

So the Y will either sell or demolish the three buildings and build something new. At this point, it’s unclear where a new Y would go.

“The assumption, and the hope, is that there will be a downtown presence,” said Jerry Beavers, president of the YMCA of Snohomish County. But there’s no guarantee of that, he added.

And rather than putting a new Y on a single site, the group might spread it out among two or three locations in north and central Everett, Beavers said.

For example, there could be a child-care center downtown and a fitness center along the riverfront, said Ted Wenta, executive director of the Everett Family YMCA.

The Y is part of a group of eight nonprofit agencies and local governments exploring whether to jointly build a recreation center in Everett. If the Y can share some amenities, that would lead to a less expensive and smaller Everett Y, Beavers said.

A study last year by the Seattle architectural firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership found that building a new Y would cost $14.3 million.

Three other options would have included some renovation of the existing buildings, in addition to either partial or total demolition of the 1920 building. Those options ranged in cost from $11.7 million and $21.3 million.

A new building would serve Y members far better than a remodeled Y could, Wenta said.

Structural support columns in the 1920 building get in the way of activities and cannot be removed. Plumbing would have to be replaced. Even the newer buildings would need extensive renovations, Wenta said.

Michael Hudson, 18, said he goes to the Everett Y because it’s close to home, but would prefer a more modern building.

“I think it will attract more people here,” he said after working out Monday. “The newer ones in Mukilteo and Marysville are nicer.”

Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.