Permitting Next Step in YMCA Expansion

officials are saying that the newly expanded YMCA will be a diverse meeting place for the community. With a 60,000 square foot expansion and new sections for children and older adults, officials are hoping the new YMCA will serve the community even better.

Merrimack Valley YMCA president and CEO Stephen Ives told selectmen last night that they are very close to finishing the schematic designs and will soon be ready to present to the various town boards for the necessary permitting.

Ives said that they have recently gotten positive responses on their request for financing and added that there has been more private donations as well.

"We have some additional investors that are helping us move it forward," said Ives to the Board of Selectmen.

Of the 60,000 square foot expansion, 20,000 of that will be a pool. However, the rest will be divided up between extra area for recreation, older adults as well as child care.

Ives said that a new section for older adults will not just have areas for phyiscal fitness but overall wellness and healthy living, such as rooms to hold healthy cooking classes.

The original YMCA building, located at 165 Haverhill Street, was built in the 1970s.

Ives said that they should be scheduling meetings with various town boards soon to begin the permitting process.

"We are in the process of finalizing all of the drawings and renderings," said Ives.

They are hoping to put a shovel in the ground at the end of the year and will open, hopefully, at the end of the 2013.