Renovated Butler YMCA plans open house

November 29, 2017 Last Updated: November 29, 2017 05:14 PM Digital Media Exclusive

The front desk area and lobby of the newly renovated Butler YMCA.

The Butler YMCA will showcase the recently completed, 10,000-square-foot ground-floor renovation project Friday.

Connie Downs, YMCA spokesman, said on Monday that the goal of the project was to create an open, hospitable space for the community that the YMCA has served for nearly 130 years.“It allows for a more welcoming and open community space,” Downs said.She explained that the renovation, which cost about $700,000, moved the YMCA's offices to the south of the their previous location, at the front of the building across from the Emily Brittain School on North Washington Street.The former office space and much of the first floor was gutted and new wiring, plumbing, communication cable, walls, ceiling and floors were installed.About a dozen tables and coffee and vending machines grace the large, new lobby inside the south entrance, which is bathed in natural light from the windows along North Washington Street.John Gibson, a member of the YMCA's board of trustees and board of directors, said the windows were often covered by shades when the offices were located there. Now, motorists or pedestrians on the street can see inside the bright, inviting lobby.“Before, when you'd look in from North Washington Street, you couldn't see anything,” Gibson said. “We've made it so much brighter now, more inviting.”He added that costs were held to $700,000 because much of the work was completed in-house.A full story appears in the Butler Eagle.