New Hall Y complex officially opens Monday

GAINESVILLE - Monday will be a red-letter day for the Hall County YMCA.

After ten years of operating out of temporary locations, and using facilities provided by other agencies, the Y will formally open the first phase of its new multi-million dollar complex.

Located on Georgia 365 at White Sulphur Road, the 52,000-square-foot J.A. Walters Family YMCA was three years in the making. That's when fund-raising for the complex officially began.

CEO Mike Brown says "about 60 contributors" were responsible for raising the money needed for the first phase of the project. "Our 'public' fund-raising is just now beginning and will include a 'Buy A Brick' program through which people can buy a brick that will be inscribed with their name or the name of a loved one or friend which will become a permanent part of the landscaping at the site."

Brown, appearing on Sunday's Northeast Georgia This Week on WDUN NEWS TALK 550 (like AccessNorthGa.com, a part of Jacobs Media Corp.), said when the doors open Monday morning, membership will total around 800, "representing about 360 families."

Family fees for membership, he said, are based on a sliding scale that is tied to household income.

Brown said fund-raising for the complex began with a $1 million anonymous donation. Gainesville businessman and philanthropist Jim Walters, for whom the Y is named, chipped in "another very significant" gift of cash, according to Brown, who said Walters, at first, resisted attempts to have the building named in his honor.

The first phase of the YMCA facility will include the following:

6-lane, 25-yard lap pool
Family Fun Pool with water slide
7,000-square-foot Health & Wellness Center for Youth & Adults
3 multi purpose Aerobic Studios including Spinning, Christ Centered Yoga, Step and more. Over 45 classes will be offered each week
1 full size Gymnasium
3 room Pre-school and School Age center for children 6 weeks to 8 years
Several Multi-purpose rooms for community use and programs
Adult, Youth and Special Needs/Family Locker Rooms
Chapel for Spiritual Development programs and member prayer time
Food court and member social areas
4 Baseball Fields, a football field and soccer fields

However, Brown says the pools will not be ready for use Monday because of work that is continuing to make the decking around them "less slippery" and the four baseball fields are not ready for use.