New Ottawa YMCA set to open May 13

The new Ottawa YMCA will be open for business to members and the general public at 5 a.m. on Monday, May 13.

Ottawa YMCA Executive Director Joe Capece, during a tour Monday, said that aside from a small metal sheeting issue on the exterior and a few landscaping touch ups, the $26.5 million, newly-constructed Y has received its certificate of occupancy from the city of Ottawa and will be ready to serve the public one week hence.

“I think the community is going to be taken aback by the beauty of this place. It’s a striking facility.”

—  Joe Capece, Ottawa YMCA executive director

“We are beyond proud and pleased of the look of the facility,” Capece said. “We had a donor event on Friday and there was an overwhelming response. I think the community is going to be taken aback by the beauty of this place. It’s a striking facility.

“The whole process took over six years. In YMCA terms, that’s not a long time. The community has been waiting many, many more years than that. There’s been lots of discussion about needing this, but the time just wasn’t right. Our time worked. The strong support of the community and the board of directors of the Y made it all happen. We’re very happy.”

The hours of the new facility, he said, will be 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The opening also is being marked by a new membership special, for which details are listed on the YMCA’s website at https://www.ottawaymca.org/.

The building, which has ample parking on the west and south sides, has two main entrances – one east, one west – that lead to a large community room that contains not only the front desk for members check-in, but also tables, chairs, restrooms and even a chapel open to all citizens, not just members.

“We’re Ottawa’s community center and this is Ottawa’s living room,” Capece said.

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Robert "Spider" Purcell swims laps in the O'Brien Aquatic Center on Monday, May 6, 2024, at the YMCA in Ottawa. Purcell was the first person to swim in the gigantic pool. (Scott Anderson)

The view of the eight-lane pool in the aquatic center catches one’s eye immediately upon entering, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows that are pervasive throughout, except for the offices and the extensive mens, womens and family lockerrooms.

Those windows not only connect the gymnasium, but also the running/walking track above it, the interior class and meeting rooms, daycare rooms, exercise rooms, weight rooms and multiple OSF Healthcare therapy rooms with each other.

They also provide views of the Illinois River, the lush greenery of Allen Park to the south and to the open area to the east between the Y and the Veterans Memorial Bridge, near where the city is working on a plaza that will include a park and an amphitheater.

Hence the need for the second entrance on the east.

“We’re excited about the city’s development of the rest of the waterfront park and its potential,” Capece said. “You’re not going to find many places that will be able to compete with places like this when all is said and done. We look at ourselves as the anchor, the catalyst to start this, and with the grant the city got, they’re moving fast with the amphitheater design and actually the whole design of the riverfront.

“When these are done, this will be the hub for activities in Ottawa.”

When the project was first envisioned, the price tag ranged in excess of $30 million, especially back during the pandemic years, but ultimately the $26.4 million cost fell into a range Capece felt was “a comfort level, and it was done on time.”

He added the YMCA right now has roughly 90 staff members, but will likely be hiring more during the busy summer months. Otherwise, an opening is a go for May 13.

“I’ve always said that we took a lot of grief when we announced this location and a lot of people thought we were crazy to build here,” Capece said – the facility is built at an elevation, removed from the flood plain. “But seeing this final product, this facility and the views, it made perfect sense to be here.

“We’re very pleased with the final product … We’re ready to make a difference in people’s lives.”