The Gulf Breeze Community YMCA is temporarily closing down starting on Monday, Aug. 26, to implement a floor-to-ceiling renovation project that will transform the center’s look, functionality and atmosphere.
The renovations are expected to take three-and-a-half months and cost $2 million to complete. The Y’s leadership plan to have a soft opening for the updated facility in December and a grand opening on Jan. 1.
Their plans include adding three new virtual “personal” studios, updated group fitness and functional training equipment, individual locker rooms, new flooring and lighting, and a more "open" concept overall. The existing childcare room will be converted into a multipurpose, intergenerational programming space allowing different age groups to simultaneously enjoy the facility.
“We really want this to be a space where people can really feel like they belong,” said the YMCA of Northwest Florida’s Director of Advancement Andrea Rosenbaum.
Rosenbaum told the News Journal that a leadership club for teenagers, e-gaming equipment as well as classes on health and wellness have been considered for the future intergenerational space.
“The whole idea is that not every single (YMCA) within like a 10-minute driving range is going to need an indoor pool,” said CEO Michael Bodenhausen. “Not every YMCA is going to need to have some of the amenities like a sauna, steam room or gymnasiums even. What are the main things that the population wants in that particular community?”
“It’s not just a workout space, but we want to make it a community space,” he continued. “That’s why we’re calling it a community YMCA, because we really want it to reflect the community as well as what the community needs.”
Why is Gulf Breeze’s YMCA renovating?
The YMCA at Gulf Breeze used to be a gym called Gulf Breeze Aerobics & Fitness before its owners came to an agreement for the Y to take over the facility in 2022. The facility's membership has since doubled.
The Y’s leadership told the News Journal that their plans were designed with feedback from members on what they wanted, in addition to data they’ve collected on equipment usage and trends.
“This Gulf Breeze community (is) very tight, the community aspect is huge,” said Engagement Director Trentan Kawas. “When we first made this the YMCA, we had so many members that were already friends with people and came here just to hang out with their buddies. We want to expand on that.”
Three virtual personal studios will be available for members to use, whether they’re doing their own fitness program or following an online workout. Some of the virtual workouts could even be implemented by staff if they’re popular enough.
Turf will also be installed with the equipment and in the locker rooms, which was a popular request for functional training purposes.
Members can expect the venue to have a new open-floor layout, refurbished walls, lights and floors as well as more casual activities to do aside from exercising once the renovations are done.
“This way, we’re also able to find the niches and needs of particular people,” said Bodenhausen. “It’s not necessarily about equipment, as (much) it as about opportunity of what (are) the trends that will bring them together and socialize as a community.”
As part of their community-driven project, the Y is encouraging staff to be on the floor engaging with members more. One of the ways they’re implementing this is by clearing out the front desk.
“We don’t want to have a front desk (or) a counter, it feels very retail-ish,” said Bodenhausen. “So instead, we’re going have iPads and social tables that staff is going to be sitting at. They’ll be there interacting with members and providing programmatic things as well.
“There’s not going to be this typical, cold type of retail feeling. It’s really going to be like a clubhouse,” he continued. “From transactional to transformative, that’s what we’re aiming at being. We want members to actually connect with each other and with their community, not even necessarily with staff.”
This is the YMCA of Northwest Florida’s first rollout for their planned hub-and-spoke model.
With this model, they want to create smaller local spaces that are both focused on the needs of residents and can be utilized as a “third space” – a place beside the home (the first place) or the workplace (the second place) where a person can go for social interaction.
Whether they need to build a new space or repurpose an existing building for future spoke sites, the most important factors will be proximity to the Bear Levin Studer Family YMCA, how many members are in the area and the Y’s ability to “fill in the gaps” for the community.
“The whole idea is being within 10 minutes of the main facility. The community that we have at the Bear Levin Studer Family YMCA are living in some of these outskirt communities and they (wanted) to have additional opportunities to work out,” Bodenhausen said. “You can actually draw a circle around the downtown YMCA and that’s the potential location(s) of other community YMCAs or neighborhood YMCAs.”
They have considered more sites for future locations, but their next one isn’t set in stone yet.
For more information about the Gulf Breeze Community YMCA renovation visit ymcanwfl.org/gulf-breeze-renovation.
