New Y Set for September Groundbreaking

Before a shovel even hits the ground, Towson's new Y is getting a facelift.

In response to community concerns, including lighting and building height, at the the new Y, officials tweaked the footprint and layout of the new $11.5 million facility.

Renderings released by the Y of Central Maryland show that building has been changed to a one-story, "V" shape, with redesigned lighting and relocated features. The building's windows point away from nearby homes. Check out the site plans and renderings attached to this story.

"We also moved some of the building, shifted it so that, for example, the one part of the building that will be a little higher, the gymnasium... actually ends up in the middle of the property and away from all the residences," said John Hoey, president of the Y of Central Maryland.

The new facility, set for groundbreaking in September, will include an 8,000 square-foot fitness center (the current one is 1,500 square feet), new multipurpose space, a climbing wall and a salt-water pool.

Changes to the design include an enclosed pool (instead of one with large glass windows) and a gymnasium that has been moved away from residents.

Y officials presented the redesigned plans to West Towson residents at the neighborhood's annual meeting on Monday.

Mike Ertel, a member of the West Towson Neighborhood Association board and himself a Y member, said residents are mostly pleased with the plan, save for issues with the height of lighting on the new center's parking lot.

"I think it's great. It's 20 years overdue. They should have built it in 1995, 1990, but it's great that we're getting a new facility finally and it looks like it's going to be a great facility," Ertel said. "I think for the most part people are really excited that we're going to see some real change there."

Though he'd like to see the building further away from homes, "Logistically I don't know how much more they can really do," he said.

For Beverly Landis, the Y's district executive director, the construction will mean she can start counting the days when she can put away the buckets during a thunderstorm and stop worrying about the nearly 60-year-old facility.

"This building is old and tired and we need a new building. It's functional and we work hard at it, but we need a new building," she said.

Neighbors plan to challenge construction

A group of Allegheny Avenue residents who live directly behind what will be the new Y's pool still aren't pleased.

Richard Wilson said he and other residents plan to challenge the Y's building permit application, claiming that the rear of the building is to the woods behind their residences and would hurt their property values.

"It may be there are only four or five of us, but to us, we bought that house thinking we were investing in something," Wilson said. We're not against the Y. ... It's just too close to our houses and that's just the way we see it."

Hoey counters that the Y's property line actually runs through the woods and that the new property meets all setback requirements, and that residents who live there knew they were moving in behind the Y. Some residents, he said, will never be pleased.

"You live in a neighborhood like West Towson, you're going to look at someone else's house," he said. "What are you looking at? You're looking at an attractive one-story building."

County funding back on the table

In an interview, Hoey said the Y and Baltimore County were back in negotiations for the county to buy the property and lease it back to the Y for $1 per year. The deal, funded with state Program Open Space grants, could raise about $2 million for the new Y's construction.

Ellen Kobler, a Baltimore County spokeswoman, said the deal would require that the Y's fields and some parts of the building be accessible to the public.

Even if the arrangement falls through, , the Y has secured financing for the final $2 million toward the new building, if they need it.

"That's $2 million less that we have to borrow," Hoey said.