The Salem Family YMCA officially broke ground on a 10,000 square foot, $1.7 million expansion on Tuesday morning, May 8. The new wellness center is expected to be completed by summer’s end, and the entire project will be done by December, said Kim Bratic, YMCA communications director.

Due to its popularity, the facility that opened in 2005 with approximately 2,800 members grew so much in membership that YMCA officials started an expansion campaign in 2008. Today, the Salem gym has over 7,000 members.

After its completion, there will be more space for fitness machines in the wellness center and more spaces for group exercise classes and youth activities as well as an indoor walking track.

“We’re thrilled that we’re able to do this, not just for the sake of the expansion of itself but that in this down economy that we were able to put together funds during this time when a lot of businesses are shuttering up,” Bratic said. Over 40 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

Everyday users of the Y should experience limited disruption from the first phase of the expansion because the work will be outside the existing building, Mark Johnson said in a Roanoke Times article by Matt Chittum in March. Work on the second phase, which includes renovation of existing interior areas, will be more apparent, but the Y will work to keep disruption to a minimum for its members, he said.

-Miranda Beck

Photos courtesy of Kim Bratic