YMCA Prepares for Major Expansion

The Grand Traverse Bay YMCA is preparing to embark on a major $12.5 million expansion of its West campus on Silver Lake Road, building a 20,384-square-foot addition that will host two gymnasiums with full-size basketball courts and bleachers, an elevated walking track, expanded Child Watch space, wellness studios, multi-purpose classrooms, and adjacent parking. It’s one of two phases of growth the YMCA is planning for the coming years, with the new addition to be followed by an estimated $7-$8 million fieldhouse.

Garfield Township planning commissioners will review a special use permit application tonight (Wednesday) for the West Y building addition, with a public hearing to potentially follow on November 12. YMCA President and CEO Andrew Page tells The Ticker that with 16,000 members – plus another 7,000 individuals visiting the facility annually for everything from swim lessons to youth basketball to guest workouts – the West Y is “at capacity” and still facing growing demand. Over 100 middle schoolers visit the site every day after school, Page says, while seniors joining the Y for exercise and socializing represent the organization’s “fastest-growing demographic.”

“This is really needed,” Page says of the expansion. “It’s not about the YMCA getting bigger just to flex. It’s about meeting the needs of the community, and we’re uniquely capable of delivering on that.”

The YMCA has raised about $7.5 million of the $12.5 million price tag for the building addition, hiring Cunningham-Limp for construction management and Ray Kendra of Environment Architects for architectural work. Page says the goal is to hit 65-70 percent of the fundraising total by the end of the year, which will give the YMCA the financial stability to move forward with a spring groundbreaking. The organization is ready to launch its public fundraising phase and will accept donations through construction, Page says.

The current West Y facility has an 84,420-square-foot building with two soccer fields, a storage building, and 345 parking spaces. The two-level addition will extend out from the existing building accompanied by a reconfigured parking lot with 121 additional parking spaces. The addition will feature two gymnasiums with full-sized basketball courts on the lower level. Page notes the West Y lacks proper gymnasiums now; its existing basketball facilities are two converted tennis courts. The new gyms will have bleachers and an elevated upper-level walking track with two walking lanes, a jogging lane, and a running lane.

The addition will also host expanded wellness space – creating more workout areas – along with classrooms, offices, and social/educational areas. Renovations to the existing facility are also planned. Those combined changes will allow the YMCA to dramatically expand its Child Watch space, the area offering free drop-in childcare for members (the YMCA also has a new off-site Child Development Center at Kensington Church that launched Monday). Page says that with more than 1,500 youth coming through Child Watch monthly, “we have outgrown that. We are going to more than triple that space.” Mary Free Bed has also outgrown its dedicated space for physical therapy and will have expanded room in the addition, Page says.

Township planning staff flagged few issues with the SUP application, indicating a potentially smooth review process ahead. The application notes that the original plans approved by the township for the West Y “included a traffic study that forecast the expansion of the building. All recommended road improvements were completed with the initial construction, including widening Silver Lake Road and adding left and right turn lanes.” The site has non-motorized trail connections and adequate water/sewer/stormwater infrastructure in place, according to the application, with the cost for a relocated water main as part of the addition and new stormwater infrastructure to capture runoff from the new parking lot to be covered by the YMCA.

Construction is expected to take 12-14 months, putting the addition on track for a late spring 2027 opening. The expansion could have implications for other YMCA programming. In addition to the approximately 200 campers the organization hosts at the South Y on Racquet Club Drive and 50-60 campers at the TCAPS Montessori School each summer, the West Y expansion could allow that facility to become a third camp site, Page says.

The YCMA could also eventually pull up stakes and leave the South Y campus. That won’t happen immediately – Page says the organization recently invested in renovations and has continued need of the space – but the SUP application to Garfield Township points to a planned departure. “The expansion at this site will facilitate the YMCA being able to fully relocate from their Boardman Valley site, thereby allowing a reduction in the intensity of the recreational use at that site within the Boardman Valley Nature Preserve,” the application states. Page says the YMCA has a lease for the South Y through 2034, but acknowledges “we’re not sure we’re going to stay there that long.”

Page says the expansion will allow the YMCA to go from accommodating approximately 23,000 unique individuals annually – a combination of members and guests – to approximately 35,000 annually. It’s also anticipated to be followed by a second major construction project at the West Y. Once the addition is complete, the next goal is to build a new fieldhouse on the property – a project estimated to cost $7-8 million “to do it right,” Page says. The free-span A-frame would have indoor turf and be the size of a regulation indoor soccer field, he says.

Page is aware and fully supportive of plans from Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) to build its own indoor sports complex next to East Middle School. He sees enough demand for both facilities and says they’ll meet different needs. “That’s a school district, a student body, that really deserves that,” he says. Page points out that TCAPS has emphasized the use of its facility for student athletics and district programming, with occasional outside tournaments and events.

“Our fieldhouse is going to be open to the general public at all times,” he says. The timing of construction will depend on fundraising, though Page says the fieldhouse will be easier than the addition to build. “Once we raise the money, it can be built in about six months,” he says.