Ott YMCA makeover

All that is rapidly changing. By June, the Ott Family YMCA, 401 S. Prudence Road, will sport $3.2 million in improvements. Including:

• A gymnasium with a full-size basketball court.

• A remodeled and handicap-accessible main pool, with chair lift.

• A new lobby/reception area.

• An elevator and a new entrance ramp.

• An expanded cardio-wellness center.

• A new outdoor play area.

• Upgraded locker rooms.

• Overhead sprinklers.

Altogether, the two-story building's 25,000 square feet will be expanded by 11,000 square feet, including 7,200 square feet for the gym.

The building's entire mechanical system, including heating and cooling, will also be replaced, says Susan Kliman, project architect.

Kliman, who's served as architect for a number of school gyms and multipurpose rooms in Tucson, knows this old building well, having learned to swim here right after this east-side Y opened back in 1969.

Now her son, Randall, 11, does the swimming here.

"We lived just a block away," says Kliman's mother, Helen Schaefer, who is married to former University of Arizona President John Schaefer.

She has served on various YWCA and YMCA boards over the years and is immediate past chair of the YMCA of Southern Arizona.

While she recused herself during the architect-selection process for the Ott renovation, Schaefer remains involved in the building's capital campaign and her family has donated a sizable amount to the project. How much, she won't say.

Other contributors include the Tucson Conquistadores, who gave $300,000 toward the new gym, which will be named for the late Roy P. Drachman.

A matching Community Development Block Grant from the city of Tucson also went toward the gym's construction.

And the locally based Emerald Foundation (see accompanying story) gave $1 million to the YMCA, much of that to improve handicap accessibility for Ott's building and its main pool.

"We have raised $2 million, with $1 million to go that we will get with a capital campaign," says Schaefer.

It all began with the gym, which the Conquistadores put up the money for years ago. "The properties committee wanted to build a free-standing metal building," says Kliman, who was hired to do a feasibility study in 2007.

But she soon discovered that a portion of the favored gym site, north of the present Ott Family YMCA, was once a landfill.

"We started exploring other options," says Kliman, who also found significant issues with handicap access, security, and traffic flow in and out of the building.

"There was no other option but to attach the building, which meant bringing the entire facility up to code," says Kliman.

So she looked at the possibility of putting the gym on the south side of the building, as well as an elevator and a curved walkway leading to a new lobby.

"It will significantly improve traffic flow, be more open," she says.

Downstairs, now mainly accessible via a narrow stairwell, is also getting a face-lift. Little-used racquetball courts are being turned into multipurpose rooms.

Dingy locker rooms are getting new tile, paint and lockers. And bathrooms are becoming handicap-accessible.

Two new restrooms, one for girls, one for boys, are also being built to serve children from six Tucson Unified School District schools who come weekdays for after-school programs.

"In summer I have 40 kids lined up in front of the bathrooms," says Suu Holtslander, executive director of the Ott Family YMCA.

But not this summer, it would appear. "The new Ott YMCA will be a resource for all Tucsonans to be proud of," says Holtslander.

Bonnie Henry's column appears Sundays and Mondays. Reach her at 573-4179 or at bhenry@azstarnet.com or write to 4850 S. Park Ave, Tucson, AZ 85714.

BY THE NUMBERS

4,800

Members of the Ott Family YMCA.

1,600

Additional square feet being added to multipurpose space.

15

New treadmills going into newly expanded cardio-wellness center.

$1 million

Amount of donation to Ott Family YMCA that gets your name added to the facility.

DID YOU KNOW

The Ott Family YMCA is named for Harvey and Marion Ott, in appreciation of the $150,000 donation Marion Ott made in 1979 to the east-side Y in memory of her husband.