News

In Swansea, Massachusetts, another fantastic development opened its doors to much anticipation and excitement. Formerly the Grace Gospel Church, the Stoico/FIRSTFED YMCA helps the YMCA SouthCoast to serve their community and also have reach that they didn’t have before. Despite already being in the midst of an $11 million renovation project of their Fall River branch, SouthCoast saw the site’s potential when the opportunity for purchase became available. YMCA SouthCoast President and CEO, Gary Scuyler, said, “When we first looked at this site, our first impressions were that this was a great natural site for a YMCA” (source: The Herald News).

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Although the facility officially opened this past December, the YMCA did offer a day camp over the summer. With two baseball fields, a soccer field and volleyball pit, there was quite a lot for kids to keep busy. A new high ropes adventure course will now add to that fun and activity.

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The over $1 million Phase I of redevelopment is complete, allowing the YMCA to open its doors to an excited community. Members now enjoy a large variety of programming venues, including a gymnasium, child watch, teen center, kids adventure center, wellness center, locker rooms, exercise studios, classroom, and community space. In the upcoming Phase II, members can expect a 12,000 square foot extension to the building, a pool and new exercise studios. In Phase III, the building will extend even further to accommodate another pool. The project overall will cost about $4 million with the funding thanks to a thriving community capital campaign.