The YMCA that opened in Stamford in 1973 is going through a rebirth and getting ready to reopen after an absence of two and a half years.
Contractors have begun to put in the new roof and cut a new front door for the Bell Street organization. The address of the building is on Washington Boulevard, but the new entrance will be on Bell Street.
“It looks like we have a long way to go, but really we”™re almost done,” said Mark Ketley, CEO of the Stamford YMCA.
James G. Rogers Architects in South Norwalk drew up the project. The firm is also responsible for the recent renewal projects at the YMCAs in New Canaan and Darien. Ketley said the new lobby will open this month.
“That will lead to the reopening of our new Y,” Ketley said. “People have missed having a Y to come to.”
Ketley was brought out of retirement to help with the renewal campaign two years ago.
The programs and the 132-room hotel portion of the facility closed in October 2007 because it had been pushed to its financial limits. Since then, the YMCA has offered a selection of activities for children, on and off site.
“It’s been a shame we haven”™t had a member-based Y for this long,” Ketley said. “We”™ve had youth programs open, and we”™re growing in our service to youth. We”™re in a great location, in downtown Stamford, in a growing city.”
The YMCA has had a presence in Stamford for 143 years.
“This is a big part of the revitalization of the downtown, Ketley said.?The construction of the Hotel Zero Degrees, which is taking over the former hotel portion of the YMCA, has pushed some of the YMCA youth programs to other locations.
Hotel Zero Degrees is to be a boutique hotel. The hotel is a project of real estate developer Randy Salvatore and his company RMS Construction.?Ketley said the $4 million fundraising campaign has already started to create what is a multi-phase construction project. ?“Phase one includes the new lobby, entrance and a new cardio center,” Ketley said. “The fundraising campaign is designed so we can do it in phases.”
