YOUTH, FAMILY CENTER TO OPEN IN SPRING

By STEPHEN HAMMILL

Officials from the Bob Sierra Family YMCA recently had a chance to thank County Commissioner Ken Hagan personally for his efforts on behalf of a new youth facility in the Carrollwood area.

Last week, Hagan visited the construction site for the YMCA Youth and Family Center at the Bob Sierra Complex at 4015 Ragg Road, where he was given a tour of the facility by YMCA officials, as well as an update on the site’s construction.

“This is a great opportunity for him to see his efforts in supporting the YMCA come to life,” said Ashley Packett of the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA.
“He was the board member who most supported the project,” said Mercy Powell, campaign coordinator for the YMCA.

“We’re here to thank him and give him an update on our progress.”

According to officials, the Youth Family Center, or YFC, will feature a fitness center, soccer fields, game rooms, homework stations, community meeting rooms, a basketball court and a preschool. Perhaps the most ambitious aspect of the plans calls for construction of a 28,000-square-foot water park, complete with a junior Olympic-sized swimming pool, and a zero-depth entry pool for younger kids complete with water slides.

Powell was accompanied by YMCA Executive Director Rob Wiggins as they took Hagan on the tour of the YFC’s construction site. Of the commission’s decision to fund the project, Wiggins said, “it shows their commitment to Hillsborough County. Not a lot of people look outside the box. What the county is doing, to have the support of them, speaks volumes for the community.”

“It was phenomenal the kind of response we got from the county,” Powell added.

Commissioner Hagan represents District 2 for Hillsborough County. He last visited the construction site in April.

“It looks a lot different than when I was last here,” he said, during the hard-hat tour of the site.

Hagan said the YMCA’s initial funding proposal was well-received by the commission.

“The county has partnered with the YMCA before,” he said. “The people in the county are going to be very well-served by this.”
Hagan said when the proposal first came in that the county had some extra revenue.

“The challenge was finding how to best use it,” he said. “They did an excellent job of making a case for it.”

He added that the YMCA has proved an invaluable asset to the community over the years.

“The unique nature of this project is that the county has never really been in the pool business before,” Hagan said, “but it’s provided an excellent opportunity to improve the quality of life for thousands of people in the area.”

The YMCA has enjoyed a presence in north Tampa with its Bob Sierra Family branch for the past 21 years, boasting over 13,000 members in that time. There are 15 schools both public and private, with nearly 40,000 students, within a 5-mile radius of the complex.

YMCA’s stated goal is to provide young people with tools and leadership skills to become future leaders of the community. Members are encouraged to step up and be heard. It will be no different at the new YFC, said Powell. In fact, the kids there will have more decision-making power than in any such project proceeding it.

“We asked our coordinators and staff for recommendations,” Powell said. “We had to give them a voice. If they own it we feel they’re going to embrace it.”
A teen advisory board, comprising students from area junior and high schools, will oversee certain day-to-day operations at the center. Some of the responsibilities will include running the concessions area.

“All money made from concessions, the teen advisory board can re-invest in to the center,” Powell said. “We’re empowering teens to learn life skills by encouraging a connection between the community and the kids.”

Powell stressed that the YFC will give voices to its young members at every level. Such independence placed in young hands is part of the pilot program at the YFC that Powell hopes to see implemented at YMCA facilities all over the nation.

“We really want this to have all the amenities a YMCA has, but we wanted to focus on teens,” Powell said. “We lose kids in their teenage years when they become mobile. We thought, let’s give them a place they can call their own.”

The YMCA has raised over $4 million for phase I of the center’s construction project, which includes plans to renovate the building’s interior, which will house new offices and four locker rooms, including one for families.

Phase II of the construction plans calls for the completion of the second-story mezzanine, which will be off-limits to children under 13 and to adults.  Powell said this space is to be allocated as a safe harbor for teens, away from the malls and streets.  She said they still need to raise $900,000 to complete Phase II.

On the tour of the construction site, Powell pointed out an elevator that will afford special-needs kids access to the second floor.
The overall plan is ambitious for YMCA standards – Wiggins recognized as much, but added that the community supported the Bob Sierra Complex in the past.

“If the community supports this one, we can continue to build and improve,” he said. “We’re trying to raise awareness and funding for the project.”
Wiggins said the YFC has already arranged partnerships with area schools, and that they’re looking for more.
The contractors estimate work will be finished by April’s end. The YFC should open in mid-May, according to Powell and Wiggins, with a grand-opening to take place soon after.

“There aren’t enough places like this anymore, where kids and their parents can meet,” Wiggins said. “The whole vision of this is to create that destination point for families.”

Membership rates for the YMCA run between $30 and $35 per month for ages 19 and under. The YMCA offers financial assistance for those unable to pay.
“The Y has no barriers,” Wiggins said.

“We can’t thank the commission enough for their support,” he added. “Things like this – it makes people want to live here.”

For information or to donate to the YMCA, contact Mary Powell or Rob Wiggins at 962-3220 or visit http://www.tampaymca.org.

Hagan can be reached at 272-5452.