Whitaker Family YMCA
New Whitaker Family YMCA to open in Hamburg in October
The YMCA of Central Kentucky is set to open the new Whitaker Family YMCA in Lexington’s Hamburg neighborhood. The facility, which is expected to open Oct. 31, will offer tours beginning Oct. 15, according to YMCA of Central Kentucky President and CEO David Martorano. The 62,000-square-foot facility sits on 10 acres at the corner of Old Rosebud Lane and Pascoli Place. The land in Hamburg was donated in 2005 by Bill Gatton, along with the land for the Beaumont YMCA. The Y has become a special part of the Beaumont community, and Gatton hopes for the same in Hamburg, Martorano said.
The project in Hamburg has been contemplated since 2005, said Martorano. The fundraising campaign was put on hold in 2008 due to the Great Recession. In 2013 the Central Kentucky YMCA began the process of reinvigorating its campaign.
“I was excited to see the Y organization commit to the Hamburg area, one of the fastest growing parts of our city,” said Bryan Raisor, Whitaker Family YMCA board chair. “There currently is not a health and wellness facility in the area that specifically targets families, which is where the Y is so strong. This is our chance to build something unique and to be proud of while engaging the entire community.”
The building, designed by local architecture firm Brandstetter Carroll, offers a number of features for all ages, including a multifunctional aquatic center with recreational and lap pools, slides, a spa and outdoor spray ground, along with a wellness center with cardio, strength and free-weight equipment, studios for exercise classes, a full-size gym, indoor track, child care and locker rooms. There is also a youth development wing for classes and programs.
The YMCA also announced The Press Juice and Health Bar will place its second location inside the Whitaker Family YMCA.
Being located on the east side of Lexington, the Y’s new state-of-the-art facility serves more than just the Lexington community.
“The beauty of Hamburg is that it serves not just Lexington, but Richmond, Mt. Sterling, Winchester, Georgetown and Frankfort,” said Elmer Whitaker, CEO at Whitaker Bank. “It’s such a nice hub for the YMCA because they serve a lot of those other communities as well, but this gives a first-class facility to provide all of their services and let more than just Lexington benefit from it.”
Charter memberships are being sold, which allow early access to the Whitaker Family YMCA a week before the grand opening, along with charter member-only events and giveaways. As of Oct. 1, the YMCA said more than 1,500 participants had signed up to be charter members.
“What’s exciting to us is that’s before people have even had the opportunity to walk in and see it,” said Martorano. “It provides so many different things for so many different people and that’s what’s so great about the Y. Everything that we do is about strengthening the foundation of our community.”
The YMCA’s cause in particular was what attracted Elmer Whitaker and his family to provide a significant and generous gift to the YMCA of Central Kentucky through the Whitaker Foundation.
“I saw that we could play a bigger role than just financing the construction elements and decided that we would like to help jumpstart their new growth in the Lexington community,” Whitaker said. “It’s been a perfect correlation, because our values are the same. The values that the YMCA embodies in providing a family-friendly Christian environment for people to work through their health initiatives touches so many people at different points in their lives. It’s part of our initiative with the foundation to help all areas of health because it’s actually helping people help themselves.”
The Whitaker family also endowed the Whitaker Bank Scholarship Fund to provide scholarship opportunities based on financial need for community members to participate in YMCA programs.
With the $3 million North YMCA update completed and the impending grand opening of the $20 million Whitaker Family YMCA approaching, the Central Kentucky YMCA is now looking toward other projects that are part of their $36.7 million capital campaign. According to Martorano, they are in the planning stages of redeveloping the YMCA on High Street and are planning a variety of renovations at the C.M. Gatton Beaumont YMCA.