For nearly 126 years, the Duluth Area Family YMCA has served our community from a location within our beloved downtown. In 1882, the YMCA was located at 18 E. Superior St. In 1916, the boys' Y opened across from old Central High School on East Second Street. In 1966, the old, rundown Y buildings were sold and a new building was erected at 302 W. First St. The beauty of these relocations is that they are all within our community's core, our inner city, our downtown.
Locating a Y in a community's downtown is increasingly rare. Travel to other towns and cities and you will find the community Y anywhere but downtown. Newer Ys are typically built at locations with ample property: assets that allow for abundant parking, multiple athletic fields, room to expand, walking paths and buffer zones between the Y and other developments. While these features and advantages are certainly attractive, I am delighted that the Duluth Area Family YMCA remains in our downtown. We have an increasingly rare and remarkable treasure in our downtown -- and right now it needs our help.
Despite an addition to the Y building in 1983 (and periodic remodeling since then), our Y is in need of extensive renovation and remodeling.
The Y is, in fact, at a critical juncture. The number of people using the facility is expanding, ultimately taxing the capacity of the building. They Y serves more than 13,000 participants and has 5,500 members. Utilization is on the rise while the facility is in decline. Help is needed.
Downtown Duluth is experiencing revitalization. New condominiums, apartments, shops and offices are bringing increased vitality and investment to our downtown.
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It simply makes sense to concurrently revitalize our YMCA, a downtown treasure. After several years of careful consideration and numerous studies, the YMCA has embarked on a $4 million capital campaign that will enable the Y to meet the increasing demand for its services. This decision to reinvent the downtown YMCA should be applauded, as well as supported, by each of us who appreciates having the Y remain downtown.
It would not be wise, of course, to assume that the facility could not go elsewhere, abandoning the downtown in order to find greener pastures in the edge-of-town green space. It could happen. It has in several other cities.
Let's ensure it will not happen in Duluth. Let's support the Y's "Touching Lives - Creating the Future" capital campaign. Doing so will allow the Y to offer state-of-the-art facilities and equipment that will better meet the needs of families and businesses.
Investing in the downtown YMCA is an investment in downtown Duluth. Downtown is our community's core business district. It is the heart of our region's economy. It is where the Y has served our community for 126 years.
Let's help the Y meet its challenges for many years to come. Give to the Y's capital campaign.
Editor's note: Contact the YMCA capital campaign office at 722-1999. To become a YMCA volunteer or make a donation, call 722-4745 or e-mail info@duluthymca.org .
