THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 23, 1994 TAG: 9412210154
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
The Portsmouth YMCA in Churchland is planning a $600,000 expansion, including a larger aerobics room, fitness center and children's facilities. The City Council approved issuing revenue bonds for the expansion Tuesday.
The bonds are low-interest loans, issued through the Industrial Development Authority, that will be repaid with money paid in memberships and for other programs.
Benn Griffin, executive director of the facility that opened in 1989, said the membership has outgrown its building. The facility in Churchland has 2,200 memberships, 75 percent of which are family memberships, Griffin said.
The biggest addition will be a 2,000 square-foot children's activity center. Currently, kids are supervised in a storage room while their parents pump iron or use the bicycles.
``When we opened, we realized we needed a place for children,'' Griffin said. ``We converted a storage room to a day-care center. It's very small and can't handle all the kids.''
The new activity center will include kitchen and bathroom facilities specifically for the children, Benn said. It will give them needed space for summer camp, day care and other children's programs.
``We'll be able to serve pre-school to junior high and (senior) high school kids,'' Griffin said.
The fitness room, which includes all the cardiovascular equipment, also will be expanded. Officials plan to double the size of that room. The entire addition will add 3,800 square feet to the 40,000 square-foot building.
Construction on the addition will begin this spring. The floor in the aerobics room is now being replaced with a new state-of-the-art shock-absorbing floor. by CNB