YMCA site has weight equipment, teen and pre-K rooms
The YMCA of San Benito County hosted an open house at their new
facility in the former Fortino’s building on Tres Pinos Road a week
ago.
The event drew out community members, city and county officials
and business leaders for tours of the new location as well as a
short ribbon-cutting ceremony that honored people who have been
integral in the growth of the YMCA through the years.
YMCA site has weight equipment, teen and pre-K rooms
The YMCA of San Benito County hosted an open house at their new facility in the former Fortino’s building on Tres Pinos Road a week ago.
The event drew out community members, city and county officials and business leaders for tours of the new location as well as a short ribbon-cutting ceremony that honored people who have been integral in the growth of the YMCA through the years.
“We will be able to impact teen, middle-schoolers and preschoolers more,” said Rochelle Callis, the vice president of the Northern region of the Central Coast YMCA, which includes San Benito and Watsonville. “With the equipment we will be able to help our members achieve a healthier lifestyle.”
Callis said the new location, which she said will be the home of the YMCA for three to five years as plans continue for a larger permanent site, will help the staff meet the main goals of the YMCA. The goals include youth development, promoting healthy lifestyles and social responsibility.
The staff offered tours of the facility, and light refreshments provided by The Elegant Touch were laid out in each room, including sandwiches, chocolate-covered strawberries and vegetables.
The new location, which was the former Fortino’s furniture store with an open floor plan, took plenty of renovations to break up the space into different rooms. The YMCA will occupy the second story. The new location has a child center room, which will be used for preschool programs. The space has a bright colored carpet, western-themed characters on the wall and plenty of color.
“We can use that for Move and Groove,” said Kristie Agan, the regional program director.
There is also a community room, geared toward teens and middle-school students, that has a few couches and a Nintendo Wii as well spaces for students to work on homework.
“We are in an awesome location near the high school and Rancho (San Justo Middle School),” Agan said. “We hope it gets utilized.”
Callis added that they are looking for donations to increase the offerings in the community room.
“We are hoping to get some computers donated and maybe some more comfortable furniture,” she said.
Other requests include board games, books that would be appropriate for the age group, Wii Fit and a color laser jet printer. Callis estimated $2,280 would be enough to complete the room.
“We want to give kids access to technology,” Callis said, adding that the computers could also be used for adult classes.
There is also a room for fitness classes that has hardwood floors and a mirrored wall. The room will be used for yoga, pilates, Zumba and other fitness classes. Just outside the fitness room, there is a space filled with push-pull weight machines and a raised platform that could be used for cardio equipment such as treadmills or elliptical trainers in the future.
“Kids 15 and older can get trained to use the equipment,” Callis said.
The weight machines came from the Watsonville facility, which Callis also oversees.
“We found out people weren’t really using it,” Callis said, adding that the Watsonville staff decided it could use more space for cardio classes.
The staff has a list of wishes for the health and wellness area, too.
“We want cardio and a little bit of free weights,” Callis said.
The complete list includes commercial treadmills, free weights, an elliptical trainer and cardio machines, for a total of $25,000.
The building also has office space for staff and a meeting room that can be rented out by other groups.
The new location “gives us an opportunity to touch more people’s lives,” Callis said. “We can partner with more groups with the meeting space and, hopefully, become more of an asset to the community.”
The renovations to the facility were made possible by four “very generous donations,” Callis said.
“This all happened because four donors made it possible,” she said.
The architectural plans for the facility were drawn up by Jason Guerra and construction was completed by Beacon Construction.
Midway through the open house, Callis asked the visitors to gather in the front lobby for a short presentation.
“Thank you, everybody for coming and showing support for the YMCA,” she said. “We are excited to be in the new location … On our journey many important people have helped. We want to recognize a few who are no longer with us, but were very important.”
Callis talked a bit and read out the names of four people who were actively involved with the YMCA as far back as its start in San Benito in 1999, including Bob Cruz, Susan Paura, Wayne Hone and Mari Davis. She presented a plaque to the family members of each, and then placed a commemorative plaque with their names in the entryway of the new location.
She also thanked Will Sutton, who is the chairman of the YMCA board for the next two years, and Scott Fuller, also a board member.
“He really supported me through this transition,” Callis said, of Fuller. “I really did not know how much work it would be.”
An individual membership at the YMCA is $30 a year and a family membership is $55 a year. The YMCA offers after-school programs for elementary school children, youth sports, adult fitness classes and more. Some of the classes or programs have additional fees. The YMCA is located at 351 Tres Pinos Road. For more information on programs, call 637-8600 or visit www.centralcoastymca.org.
