Bear-Glasgow Family YMCA to expand

NEWARK -- The YMCA of Delaware has announced that it is about to begin the planned expansion of the Bear-Glasgow Family YMCA. Approximately 9,000 square feet will be added to the enclosed space, providing a new group exercise studio of 4,000 square feet, a larger Youth Wellness Center of 1,600 sq. ft. and a Spinning™ (group indoor aerobic cycling) room of 1,400 sq. ft.  Office and storage space will also be provided for in the expansion.

The existing Youth Wellness Center will become a stretching area for adults and include space for personal training. The existing Spinning room will be an overflow room for Kids Zone (dropoff babysitting area for parent members) primarily for the ages of 6 to 8 years.

“The community response to having a YMCA has been amazing and to keep up with the demand, we are moving to expand much more quickly than originally planned,” said Val Siktar, executive director of the Bear-Glasgow Family YMCA.    “Our group exercise classes will serve more members with the new studio, our youth wellness participants will have more equipment and space, and our Spinning classes will have more bikes so that more folks can enjoy the world of Spinning. It’s an exciting time for our YMCA as well as for the entire Bear-Glasgow community.”

The new facility’s expansion will enable more program choices to be added to the facility, bringing its size to 72,000 sq. ft. The facility includes three multi-purpose rooms, adult wellness center, an eight-lane indoor pool, gymnasium, two outdoor pools, including a zero-depth entry Family Fun Pool with splash features and an eight-lane pool.

RG Architects is the architect on the project and Whiting-Turner is the general contractor. Improvements are expected to begin in late November 2009 and, depending upon weather conditions, completion is anticipated in April 2010.

Since it officially opened in February 2008, the branch has grown to be the largest of the YMCA of Delaware’s seven facilities with more than 22,000 members.