BURBANK : YMCA Proceeds on $2-Million Expansion

The Burbank Family YMCA in April plans to tear down an old Baptist church and parsonage to make way for a $2-million construction plan to expand its swimming, gymnastics, youth and other programs.

The buildings have belonged to the YMCA since the 1920s and are now used for multipurpose rooms and administrative offices. They will be replaced by a three-story, 30,000-square-foot building that will be connected to the main YMCA building at Magnolia Boulevard and Third Street.

Randy Lewis, executive director for the YMCA, said the organization had been working toward reconstruction--putting together donations from large contributors to fund the project--for the past 2 1/2 years.

“We’ve realized that we had reached capacity as far as programming is concerned,” he said.

For instance, gymnastics programs have to compete with basketball for space, and aquatics programs have to juggle schedules for the use of the one swimming pool.

The new addition will include room for the gymnastics program, an additional pool--for swimming lessons and exercise programs--and a room to be used as a meeting place for YMCA youth groups. Also included in the project is a new indoor Jacuzzi and a weight room.

The $2 million will be used for the first phase of the construction--putting up the building and finishing the first floor. To finish the remaining two floors, the YMCA has to raise another $600,000 through a local community fund-raising campaign that has yet to be planned, Lewis said.

Lewis said $250,000 for the project is coming from the Ray Sence Foundation, named for one of the founding fathers of Burbank.

The Burbank Family YMCA has about 4,000 members, Lewis said. The new facilities could allow them to grow even further, he added.

Lewis said groundbreaking was expected soon after April 1, but that date depends on when the architectural plans are drawn and when the necessary approvals come from the city of Burbank.