Revamping the Winter Park Y

With the paint dry and floors buffed, the Winter Park YMCA is finally ready to unveil its new look.

More than a year after construction began on the $2.9 million renovation, the YMCA will debut its new entrance, gathering areas and expanded locker room facilities to the public during its grand re-opening event on Thursday, Sept. 15.

Jacqueline Rivera, the vice president of marketing for the YMCA of Central Florida, said with renovations complete, the Winter Park location now has the face to match the newly revitalized YMCA brand.

“People think we’re just a gym, but the Y is so much more,” Rivera said.

Why the Y?

Rivera said the new look and feel of the Winter Park YMCA is a reflection of the Y’s revitalized image, demonstrating that the YMCA is more than an organization that provides a place to work out, but also one that connects with the needs of its communities.

“We changed the facilities to reflect the communities’ needs,” Rivera said. “We’ve made it a place where families and their kids can come to connect.”

The addition of new conference rooms and seated areas with couches, tables and televisions, she said, provide an area where families and friends can gather pre- or post- workout, or just to hang out.

Jeff Briggs, the director of the Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board, said the YMCA serves an important role in the Winter Park community.

“Big picture, the YMCA is a very valuable asset for the city to have with all of the recreational programs it provides,” Briggs said. “Programs that we, the city, do are complemented by what the YMCA does.”

Limits of growth

The Y’s grand re-opening is 4-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15. The event will feature live entertainment, a poolside cookout and demonstrations and previews of the Y’s classes. Visit tinyurl.com/wpyrenovations

But Briggs said expansions of the Winter Park YMCA — located on North Lakemont Avenue, surrounded by single-family homes — in the past have not gone without controversy.

Residents, he said, fear the YMCA becoming too large and overwhelming the residential area. To monitor the facility’s growth, he said the City Commission has the final say on all expansion plans.

Rivera acknowledged the concern, saying this first renovation, which added 3,100 square-feet to the facility, was fairly minor as far as their renovations go.

“We’re just trying to address the needs and the wants of the population,” she said. This time, she said, they did so by increasing the size of the spinning classroom — spinning being a growing fitness trend in the community — adding family bathrooms and redoing the women’s locker room.

Because of space restrictions, Rivera said, certain compromises had to be made, including reducing the amount of indoor play area designated for children’s activities.

Patricia Pamplona, a member of the Winter Park YMCA for just more than a year, said she was impressed with the spaciousness and décor of the Y post-renovation and the “spa-like” women’s locker room. But she said she was disappointed that her two young children no longer had a large room to play in.

Brady Nepple, who visits the Y every day, also said he was impressed by the Y’s new look, but he was unhappy that the play area was condensed.

“I bring my kids here for the athletics, not to sit on a sofa,” he said referring to the new living room-like gathering areas.

Marcelle Hobbs, who has frequented the Winter Park Y for more than 10 years, said all the additions are wonderful.

“We don’t realize how lucky we are to have this Y,” she said. “I feel at home here.”