New YMCA features high-tech equipment, view, parking
Workers hustling to meet Jan. 2 opening
By Michele Linck Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, December 26, 2007
SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- Swarming with workers -- electricians, carpenters, window washers, equipment installers -- the new Norm Waitt Sr. YMCA here is filled these days with the sounds of alarms being tested, ladders being scooted and blowers running.
Contractors are under the gun to get the 60,000-square-foot facility ready to open on Jan. 2.
While the new Y is the same in size as the current Siouxland Y, the two facilities couldn't be more different. Instead of multiple stories, the new YMCA, set on the riverfront in Scenic Park, is all on one level.
Instead of being carved up into small spaces, its rooms are of generous sizes. Many of them are awash in natural light from nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. The big windows on the north side bring the Missouri River and Sioux City skyline into the double gym, vast fitness room and two swimming pools. The vista extends from the Veterans Memorial Bridge to the riverboat casino.
A recent tour revealed just four stairs in the entire building. They lead to the lower level of the fitness room, which is also accessible by a ramp. (The leisure swimming pool has two sets of steps in the water, but features a zero-depth walk-in entry, "like walking in from the shore," said the Y's CEO, Brad Ellenbecker. )
Also unlike its predecessor at 722 Nebraska Street, where the Y has 18 parking spaces, the new building has nearly 300, Ellenbecker said.
Ellenbecker said the Y's staff will also expand with the move. Currently at about 170 full- and part-time workers, the staff will likely grow to 230 to 250 as the year progresses. The swimming pools alone are labor intensive. The family pool -- where there are two slides and other water features -- will need up to five lifeguards on busy days, and the fitness pool will need two or three, he said.
The total budget will grow, too, from about $1.5 million a year to $3 million, or even $3.5 million, Ellenbecker said.
Here's a look at a few of the facility's other features:
-- The fitness room will hold about 100 TechnoGym cardio and strength machines along with free weights. The machines feature iPod ports and a large touch screen which displays your play list etc. You could listen to music or watch a downloaded video. The machines are also linked to cable television, so you could watch a ball game and listen to you iPod at the same time. Each machine also has a personal fan.
When a new program is implemented in a few months, members will be able to get an individual "key," a flash drive-like device on which they can load their personal workout program at a Y kiosk then plug it in to run the program on each machine in their rotation. The key will also record their workout, which can be downloaded at the kiosk, creating an ongoing log.
-- Youth and Family Center -- Like a family rec room, with ping-pong and foosball tables, a television. Basically a place for kids to hang out and socialize. Has adjoining computer lab for games or homework, and adjoining craft room. Will be staffed.
-- Family Locker Room -- Four spacious private changing rooms, each with sink, toilet and shower; intended for parents with opposite-sex children (who will not be allowed in the regular locker rooms), but also for use by people who just don't like undressing in a regular locker room. All four share one bank of lockers outside the private rooms.
-- Child Watch room -- Has low sinks and toilets and plenty of colorful play space for young children who stay there while parents exercise. It is not a licensed day care, but will follow "best practices" of day care centers.
-- Fitness/competition pool -- By Myrtha Pools, features deck-level water with surface drains rather than side drains which slow swimmers. It's 6-feet deep at each end, but 4-feet deep across its center to reduce swimmers' wake and for use in water walking classes. Bottom is special surface, easier on feet than concrete. Pool will serve as home to the local swim team and is the only 8-lane competition facility within 200-mile radius, according to Ellenbecker, who says Myrtha pools are "fast." A number of world records have been set in them.
-- Two "studio" rooms: One can hold 16 spinning bikes, the other will hold special equipment to be announced in March.
-- A large exercise room for a variety of classes.
-- Surveillance/security cameras throughout the building.
Brad Ellenbecker, 46, a native of Athens, Wis., became the CEO of the Siouxland Y on Aug. 22. He earned his degree from the University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point in wellness and health education. The Norman Waitt Sr. YMCA isn't his first experience with a construction project. Ellenbecker came to Sioux City from Kearney, Neb., where he spent 12 years as the CEO of the YMCA, overseeing the expansion of that facility from 60,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet. Prior to Kearney he worked as the program director and then associate executive at the Y in Newton, Iowa.
Contractors are under the gun to get the 60,000-square-foot facility ready to open on Jan. 2.
While the new Y is the same in size as the current Siouxland Y, the two facilities couldn't be more different. Instead of multiple stories, the new YMCA, set on the riverfront in Scenic Park, is all on one level.
Instead of being carved up into small spaces, its rooms are of generous sizes. Many of them are awash in natural light from nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. The big windows on the north side bring the Missouri River and Sioux City skyline into the double gym, vast fitness room and two swimming pools. The vista extends from the Veterans Memorial Bridge to the riverboat casino.
A recent tour revealed just four stairs in the entire building. They lead to the lower level of the fitness room, which is also accessible by a ramp. (The leisure swimming pool has two sets of steps in the water, but features a zero-depth walk-in entry, "like walking in from the shore," said the Y's CEO, Brad Ellenbecker. )
Also unlike its predecessor at 722 Nebraska Street, where the Y has 18 parking spaces, the new building has nearly 300, Ellenbecker said.
Ellenbecker said the Y's staff will also expand with the move. Currently at about 170 full- and part-time workers, the staff will likely grow to 230 to 250 as the year progresses. The swimming pools alone are labor intensive. The family pool -- where there are two slides and other water features -- will need up to five lifeguards on busy days, and the fitness pool will need two or three, he said.
The total budget will grow, too, from about $1.5 million a year to $3 million, or even $3.5 million, Ellenbecker said.
Here's a look at a few of the facility's other features:
-- The fitness room will hold about 100 TechnoGym cardio and strength machines along with free weights. The machines feature iPod ports and a large touch screen which displays your play list etc. You could listen to music or watch a downloaded video. The machines are also linked to cable television, so you could watch a ball game and listen to you iPod at the same time. Each machine also has a personal fan.
When a new program is implemented in a few months, members will be able to get an individual "key," a flash drive-like device on which they can load their personal workout program at a Y kiosk then plug it in to run the program on each machine in their rotation. The key will also record their workout, which can be downloaded at the kiosk, creating an ongoing log.
-- Youth and Family Center -- Like a family rec room, with ping-pong and foosball tables, a television. Basically a place for kids to hang out and socialize. Has adjoining computer lab for games or homework, and adjoining craft room. Will be staffed.
-- Family Locker Room -- Four spacious private changing rooms, each with sink, toilet and shower; intended for parents with opposite-sex children (who will not be allowed in the regular locker rooms), but also for use by people who just don't like undressing in a regular locker room. All four share one bank of lockers outside the private rooms.
-- Child Watch room -- Has low sinks and toilets and plenty of colorful play space for young children who stay there while parents exercise. It is not a licensed day care, but will follow "best practices" of day care centers.
-- Fitness/competition pool -- By Myrtha Pools, features deck-level water with surface drains rather than side drains which slow swimmers. It's 6-feet deep at each end, but 4-feet deep across its center to reduce swimmers' wake and for use in water walking classes. Bottom is special surface, easier on feet than concrete. Pool will serve as home to the local swim team and is the only 8-lane competition facility within 200-mile radius, according to Ellenbecker, who says Myrtha pools are "fast." A number of world records have been set in them.
-- Two "studio" rooms: One can hold 16 spinning bikes, the other will hold special equipment to be announced in March.
-- A large exercise room for a variety of classes.
-- Surveillance/security cameras throughout the building.
Brad Ellenbecker, 46, a native of Athens, Wis., became the CEO of the Siouxland Y on Aug. 22. He earned his degree from the University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point in wellness and health education. The Norman Waitt Sr. YMCA isn't his first experience with a construction project. Ellenbecker came to Sioux City from Kearney, Neb., where he spent 12 years as the CEO of the YMCA, overseeing the expansion of that facility from 60,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet. Prior to Kearney he worked as the program director and then associate executive at the Y in Newton, Iowa.
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OH Boy Part II wrote on Dec 27, 2007 12:40 AM:
OH Boy wrote on Dec 26, 2007 11:06 PM:
bye bye Y wrote on Dec 26, 2007 9:45 PM:
Chris B. wrote on Dec 26, 2007 6:14 PM:
Yeah Right wrote on Dec 26, 2007 3:29 PM: