ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on February 16, 1996.
The phone number for the YMCA of the Roanoke Valley was incorrect in
a story Thursday about the new Salem Family YMCA. The correct number is
342-9622.
The Salem Family YMCA won't open officially for another week and a half. But the public already is getting a sneak preview of the new and improved former YWCA.
More than 200 people toured the facility during an open house last Saturday - and about 110 joined.
The YMCA will be open again this Saturday for tours and membership information. It should open for business Feb. 24.
"We haven't had this in Salem," said Wes White, whose family is thinking about joining the Salem Y. White and his wife, Marsha, toured the facility Saturday and said they like the fact that their entire family can join under one membership.
"We have a large family," Wes White said. "They'll take them all under one umbrella." The Whites said they have six children living at home.
Members of the YMCA's Central Branch in downtown Roanoke will be able to use the Salem facility. Those who join only at the Salem Y will have to pay $7 more per month for a valleywide membership, allowing them to use the Roanoke facility.
The first 200 members at the Salem branch will be given valleywide membership, said Cal Johnson, executive director of the YMCA of the Roanoke Valley.
Though the Salem branch is much smaller than the downtown center, Johnson said, it will target families by offering such programs as aquatics for all ages.
And Johnson said he would like to see a program allowing children to stay at the YMCA after school.
"We're more than just a fitness center," Johnson said. "We're not governed by the for-profit motive."
The facility, located on the Elizabeth Campus of Roanoke College, is the former Salem YWCA. The YWCA had been leasing the building from Roanoke College. But it closed in December.
Shortly after the YWCA announced that it would close, Salem officials and Johnson began negotiating to keep the fitness center alive.
Last month, Salem City Council approved a lease between the city and Roanoke College. Salem, in turn, will sublease the facility to the YMCA at no charge. (The Y has to pay for major maintenance, staffing and programs.)
The $35,000-per-year lease will continue for five years. However, City Council can back out of the lease after three years.
The full-size gymnasium at the Salem Y gives the city's recreational basketball league a place to play while the gym at G.W. Carver Elementary School is being renovated, said Assistant City Manager Forest Jones.
Branch Director Mike VanHaelewyn said the Salem facility will have some of the same programs the YWCA offered, including a water therapy program for arthritis sufferers that attracted many people in the Roanoke Valley. The facility's indoor, heated swimming pool is one of few in the Roanoke area that are medically approved for use by arthritis patients.
Many former YWCA members have already joined the new branch, VanHaelewyn said.
Most of the renovations around the pool were complete for the open house Saturday. Before the opening, Johnson said, the locker rooms will be painted and new lockers will be installed.
The branch is still waiting for fitness equipment to arrive. Although the branch will not have a full-size weight room, it will have cardiovascular equipment in a room adjacent to the gym.
Johnson said an advisory board will be set up to help develop future programs.
Y administrators were hearing some of those ideas Saturday.
Catherine Blankenship of Salem said she would like to see a day care center at the branch to look after her young daughter while she works out.
Y directors are hoping to sign up at least 90 more members during this week's open house.
The goal is to have 200 members by Feb. 24, VanHaelewyn said.
After a year of operation, VanHaelewyn said, he hopes the Salem branch will have at least 1,000 members.
For more information about the Salem Family YMCA, call the YMCA Central Branch in Roanoke at 342-9662.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Some of the 200 people who attendedby CNBthe Salem Family YMCA's open house inquire about memberships. 2. A
recently refurbished pool is among the bigger features at the new
branch. The building used to house a YWCA, which closed in December.
color. KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996