Newport County YMCA set to reopen after completion of $12 million renovation project
MIDDLETOWN — The Newport County YMCA will reopen to the public after the holiday weekend, allowing its members and guests to fully experience for the first time the renovated facility at 792 Valley Road.
While the YMCA has generally remained open since construction on a $12 million renovation and addition began last July, it has been closed since June 20 in order to complete Phase I of the project.
Visitors on Tuesday, July 5 will be able to use for the first time the new lobby, elevators, wellness center, group exercise studio, locker rooms, gymnastics area and childcare center.
Phase II of the plan is the construction of a state-of-the-art squash facility — which will include seven courts and an education center run by RhodySquash — the renovation of the basketball court and the demolition of some interior walls in order to build new hallways connecting the lobby to the squash area on the first floor and the wellness center to the pool on the second floor.
Public tours of the YMCA have been available over the past week as workers put the finishing touches on, like setting up all the new Hammer Strength workout machines in the wellness center overlooking Green End Pond and installing the countertop in the new community kitchen.
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Kelsey Martin, the membership and marketing director, explained this is the YMCA's first capital campaign since 1974. From the new lobby layout to the additional elevator to the placement of the wheelchair accessible SciFit recumbent bike in the workout area, every space was redesigned with a focus on accessibility, inclusion and compliance with modern codes.
The lobby includes a social meeting area, a wide wheelchair ramp and an easily accessible elevator, and also has a new security system and cameras. Everything, including the height of the water bottle fill stations in the walls, is ADA-compliant.
Children enrolled in summer camp already are making use of two new classrooms, which will also be used by Twice as Nice preschool. Starting Tuesday, members who are parents of six-month to 2-year-old children can take advantage of two hours of free babysitting in the Child Watch area, which is connected to an indoor playscape.
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Special Olympics athletes and adults in the YMCA’s life-skills programming now have their own dedicated inclusion classroom. The gymnastics space has its own viewing areas on both the first and second floor and its own restroom.
The new wellness center, in addition to its spectacular views, has a weight machine section, a cardio section, and a sports performance center with a turf track for sleds and low-impact training.
On the other side of the basketball court, which will be updated to include pickleball lines, is a community kitchen. Above that is a workout studio equipped with a new sound system and 22 stationary bikes for spin classes.
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The men’s and women’s locker rooms have been updated to include steam rooms and saunas, and there is a new universal locker room geared towards families. All three are connected to the pool area, which has a new air vent system and a new viewing area.
Martin said it took six years to raise the funds for the project, which also includes the expansion of the parking lot to include an additional 100 spaces and the connection of John Clarke road to Valley road through the YMCA parking lot.
Phase II, the squash complex and hallway renovations, is scheduled to conclude in December of this year, at which point there will be an official ribbon-cutting ceremony.