Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA to begin renovations soon

After years of planning, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA will officially begin renovations on Oct. 13.

Renovation plans include doubling the wellness area, creating a new lobby space and redesigning the youth area. The YMCA also plans to purchase new equipment for the expanded wellness area.

Greg Lee, regional branch communications director at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA, said there was a delay in renovations due to an effort to make sure voices from all areas of the YMCA were heard.

“That way we felt like we could get a really clear picture of what we needed to do to service all of our members in our new space,” he said.

But not everyone has been on board with the renovations.

In 2013, a group protested the YMCA’s decision to remove the facility’s racquetball courts in order to make room for renovations.

The plans to take out the racquetball courts have since been changed.

“Our racquetball courts are not being affected by these renovations,” Lee said. “We will continue to have two courts. We will sometimes use the courts for classes during renovations but we will not be removing them.”

In early 2013, the YMCA created a task force to ensure members could give its board of directors their input.

“By getting our members involved through the task force we’ve been able to hear most of the concerns,” Lee said.

Kim Grooms, executive director for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA, said in an email that the staff is especially excited for these renovations because of the involvement of the members.

“Our task force was made up of a great cross-section of members who worked hard to make recommendations for improvements that would benefit everyone in the community, and I think the results will be fantastic,” Grooms said.

During renovations, members can expect changes to their workout program, including certain modifications to the group wellness schedule in order to accommodate room for the renovations. The entire upper level of the facility will be closed during construction.

During renovation, almost all workout classes that usually take place in the group wellness area will be relocated to another location in the same facility or to the YMCA’s Meadowmont facility, which is also in Chapel Hill.

“We offer over 50 classes a week at our branch and only three or four of them are not going to be able to be relocated,” Lee said.

Jennifer Nelson, associate vice president of communications at the YMCA of the Triangle, said in an email that YMCA members will still be able to participate in their programs.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA and YMCA of the Triangle merged in June.

“During this renovation, all Chapel Hill Y members will have access to all YMCA of the Triangle facilities, free of charge,” Nelson said.

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