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The steel framework is now being erected for the first stage of the Y’s modern new home, a full-service 54,000-square-foot facility, the Y said in a statement.
“With the concrete foundation now 98 percent complete, the month of July is all about steel erection,” says Dan Drake, senior project manager for Turner Construction Co.
The first of two major trusses has been lifted into place over the Strittmatter Family Aquatic Center, which will include a 10-lane 25-yard lap pool and adjacent shallow warm-water pool to be used for teaching, aqua therapy and recreational swimming.
Rob Reeves, Family Y chief executive office, welcomes the progress. “To see those huge, bright-white beams arching over the structure is an impressive sight, and proof positive that our goal of ‘Building What Matters’ – a new center of community life and wellness – is coming to fruition,” Reeves said.
A 20-foot-long steel I-beam now rests on two sawhorses near the entrance to the building site. Donors and Y campaign leaders are adding their signatures and congratulatory notes to it before it becomes the last major piece of steel to be hoisted into place in August.
“Between the groundbreaking ceremony and the ribbon-cutting to open our new Y, the topping off is the key milestone in the construction effort,” added Reeves.
There are about 35 full-time skilled workers onsite, with some assigned to the south side of the Mahackeno campus, where work on the mandated wastewater treatment plant and leaching fields is under way.
The Family Y’s modern new home is expected to be completed by October 2014. In addition to the state-of-the-art Aquatic Center, the facility will include an expansive Health and Wellness Center; a multipurpose gymnasium; three group-fitness studios; a Child Watch/Kids’ Adventure Gym area; five locker rooms, including one for those with dependent care; and other amenities.
The cost of the first phase is $38.5 million. To date, the Family Y has identified nearly $36 million in funding, including proceeds from the agreed-upon sale of its current home in downtown Westport.
The leaders of the Y’s Building What Matters capital campaign are continuing efforts to reach out to local foundations, businesses and individuals to make an investment in the Family Y’s future to fully fund the first stage of construction.
A more public, grass-roots phase was launched in early 2013. Called “Picture Yourself at the New Family Y,” the innovative project involves the creation of a large wall mural at the new facility to be composed of thousands of individual photographs of Y members and supporters. For a tax-deductible contribution of $100 per photo, donors can include a favorite photo or photos in a mosaic of “The Westport-Weston YMCA,” a watercolor by artist Kassie Foss of the Family Y’s historic Bedford Building, home of the Family Y since 1923.
The interactive online project may be found at www.pictureyournewy.org.
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