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PROGRESS
K
okomo YMCA Executive Director Dave Dubois is a numbers
type of guy, and when he looks at the numbers since the
new Y opened in February, he only has one word to describe
them: staggering.
The most staggering number of all has been the explosive increase
in membership since the new facility officially opened its doors on
Feb. 29.
Dubois said on Jan. 1, there were around 6,000 members of the Y.
Today, there are more than 12,000. To be exact, he said, the number
of members has skyrocketed by 102 percent.
“Those are crazy numbers,” he said. “The numbers can only be
described as staggering.”
Here’s some more crazy numbers. In March, the Y sold 930 new
membership units. Dubois said in the past 15 years, that’s the
number of memberships the facility has sold on average for an entire
year. Since February, it's sold nearly 3,000 membership units.
In August, membership grew by just under 1 percent. For more than
a decade, though, membership has dropped between 6 to 8 percent
the same month.
Then there’s the staffing. Dubois said the Y employed around 100
people last fall. With the huge spike in membership, that number
has jumped to 190 workers, and will likely increase even more next
year.
“These numbers are hard to even wrap your brain around,” he said.
“They’re hard to grasp.”
Dubois said the growth at the YMCA is mind blowing, but it’s
something it anticipated after completing the new $16 million
facility.
Before the building even opened, Y officials developed a 10-year
growth plan projecting the impact the new facility would have. That
plan predicted membership would increase by 98 percent by the end
of the year.
Now, Dubois said, they’re on track to see around 125 percent growth
by the end of the year.
“The numbers are not really surprising, but it is exceeding our
expectation – but not by much,” he said. “It’s outpacing our
projections by a little bit.”
The explosive growth isn’t surprising, considering the new facility
is one of the most modern, impressive YMCAs in the state, Dubois
said.
The building boasts a 9,500-square-foot weight room area and a
one-ninth mile indoor track that provides runners with a view of all
the facility's amenities.
The Aquatic Center features a fitness lap pool with eight swim lanes
and a capacity of 284, a program pool with a capacity of 61 and a
“Tot Spot" pool area with a splash pad for kids. The pool area also
features sauna and steam rooms, in addition to a "party room" for
children's birthday parties.
The second floor holds the weight and fitness area, which consists
of 47 Life Fitness strength training machines, 42 pieces of cardio
equipment including 19 treadmills, 20 exercise bikes in the cycling
studio, six heavy bags and two speed bags and nine TRX suspension
trainers.
The machines featured Quick Response (QR) codes where users can
log their workouts easily, while the cardio equipment features web
browsers, detailed workout simulations, mobile app tracking for
workout programs and a display screen that can be synced to one of
the 14 TVs located on the wall.
Dubois said that’s all impressive, but the feature that really sets the
new Y apart is its open-design concept. Sitting inside his office, he
can see just about every area of the building.
He said that open design makes it much easier to accommodate the
crowds of sometimes up to 400 people that pack into the facility
during peak business times.
“It gets pretty packed, but what I’ve noticed is this building absorbs
people very, very well,” Dubois said. “It’s the open concept that
makes it feel less crowded.”
The new YMCA has been a boon for the organization, but it’s also
been a boon for the city’s downtown. Since it’s opened, the facility
has served as an anchor for the city’s redevelopment efforts to
revitalize the core of Kokomo.
Dubois said the state-of-the-art building has been instrumental in
breathing new life into the downtown, and the spike in membership
has brought more people than ever to the area. Just in July, he said
members made more than 29,000 visits the Y, and, consequently, to
the downtown.
“When people come in to the Y, they say, ‘I can’t believe I’m in
New YMCA sees explosive growth since grand opening
Story by Carson Gerber
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