West End YMCA to improve area's jobs, health, safety

Plans confirmed Thursday that the long-sought Greater Louisville YMCA branch will finally be built at Broadway and Dixie Highway/18th Street and will bring new hope for western Louisville's economy, safety and health.

With $28 million in financing sewn up after a nearly 10-year effort, ground is expected to be broken by year's end, with the facility on the southeast corner of the busy intersection set to open in 2019, said Steve Tarver, the YMCA of Greater Louisville's president and CEO.

The arranging of financing had been the major holdup.  But Tarver said the YMCA had cobbled together the needed funding. The budget includes about $4 million in donations and most of the rest in the form of low-interest, federal tax credits awarded by community-development lenders in New Orleans, Baltimore, Chicago and Raleigh, N.C.

One big gift, an amount Tarver declined to specify, same from the Republic Bank Foundation.  It was of such magnitude that the branch is being named the Republic Bank Foundation YMCA.

The debt on the loaned proceeds by the investors who bought the tax credits will be paid off over the long haul by lease payments from several tenants in the branch, by other income, and by fund-raising, Tarver said.  The tenants will include:

• A full-service Republic Bank branch, where classes in financial responsibilities will be offered.
• A 6,000-square-foot Norton Health care clinic with at least two physicians.
• A Family & Children's Place office providing counseling and therapy services.
• A ProRehab Physical Therapy outlet.Its services will include both manual and physical therapy to reduce and prevent aches and pains in the musculoskeletal system, as well as spine care, workplace injury prevention, chronic pain management and trigger point dry needling.

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The University of Louisville for years had been a planned partner in the YMCA branch, but Tarver said the school could never develop a firm commitment to the project.

The two-story building will be built out to the curb on Broadway on land donated several years ago by the Philip Morris organization.  The site, now cleared, was long used for the cigarette company's operations.

The site plan is for a building with 62,000 square feet of space, including for the YMCA a pool, a fitness center, an indoor track, a children's activity area, a gymnasium and a multipurpose room.   The site will have about 270 parking spaces and a large area for one or more sports fields.   Along 17th Street, on the east side of the site ,will initially be green space — but room eventually for as many a three small buildings for other agencies, or room for the YMCA to expand.

Tarver said in an interview that the YMCA will employ up to 50 people at the branch, many of them part-timers.

The architect is Luckett & Farley, and the general contractor is Wehr Constructors.

The project is a major shot of adrenalin for the West End's economy — especially important following the recent shelving of the Foodport project and, at a site just across Dixie from the YMCA site, the Wal-Mart.

"This is the beginning of new economic development in western Louisville," said Metro Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith, whose 4th District includes the site.  "It will mean jobs, safety and a healthier community."

Among the speakers at a news conference at the site Thursday afternoon was U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3rd District.  "This is not just another YMCA," he said, adding that the facility "makes a statement of confidence in western Louisville" and will be a gathering place that will bring diverse factions together.  It also will serve as a catalyst for spinoff development, he said.

Tarver said the building expects to serve up to 20,000 people a year. He said it will add a half-million dollars of new payroll per year in the Russell, Park Hill, California and other nearby neighborhoods.

Mayor Greg Fischer was quick to credit the YMCA's perseverance in pursuit of the project. He said, "The Y has been a great and steady partner as we work on the core city value of improving the health of our community, especially in neighborhoods that don’t have the resources and investment they need. This facility will move us even closer to that goal."

Sadiqa Reynolds, president of the Louisville Urban League, whose office is two blocks from the YMCA site, said, "We look forward to helping with job placement and collaborating on health initiatives and other programs that will improve quality of life for West Louisville residents.”

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at 502-582-7089, or via email at sshafer@courier-journal.com.