Celebrating the New MacColl YMCA @ valleybreeze.com
MacColl YMCA: The cornerstone of the community for healthy living and youth development LINCOLN – The brand-new MacColl YMCA – a 52,000-square-foot facility that’s Northeastern Rhode Island’s community center for better health and fitness – will open for tours on Friday, Aug. 24 through Sunday, Aug. 26, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Ideally located at 32 Breakneck Hill Road, right off Route 146, this Lincoln landmark has been transformed from a satellite of the Pawtucket YMCA to a major multigenerational health and fitness facility. Remaining, as a reminder of its country heritage, is the old, red dairy barn where some programming will continue. But the exciting focus is on the brand-new, two-story structure with its white walls trimmed in dark red and oversized windows that take in the wooded and hillside vistas of the surrounding farm. YMCA of Pawtucket General Director Esselton McNulty describes “a robust, year-round program of activities in youth and adult wellness and sports, early development education for preschoolers, and life extending activities for active, older adults. “This will make the MacColl YMCA a cornerstone of the community with a powerful mission to impact lives through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility,” he said. Keeping with the YMCA tradition, this is a very family-friendly place. MacColl Executive Director Robert Cioffi suggests, for instance, that parents can work out on treadmills while watching their children swimming in the pool below. And getting the kids into that pool will be so much easier with the new family locker room that provides 10 private dressing rooms, each with toilet, sink, shower and changing stalls for siblings and parents. And what a pool that is. Kids get a
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splash pad with fun jets of water and a twisting, 12-foot slide that sends them careening into a two- to four-footdeep play area. Side by side is the adults’ pool, 26 yards long, with six lanes for workouts and two 16-foot diving boards. Included in the new facility, too: • A 30-foot-tall rock wall for climbing. • A full gymnasium with a high school size basketball court, four cross-half courts and two volleyball courts. • A 7,500-square-foot Cybex wellness center with free weights, weight training machines, treadmills (complete with individual built-in TVs) and bicycles. Included are Cybex Arc Trainers designed to be gentle on joints while burning more calories than elliptical machines. • Three studio rooms for yoga, aerobics, and dance. • Two interconnected activity rooms for youth programs and birthday parties. • A kitchen large enough to accommodate hands-on nutrition classes And along with the family locker room, are four more - one each for men and for women (with steam rooms and even a place to rinse out bathing suits), and a separate space for boys and for girls. MacColl YMCA is also a “green” certified YMCA with full climate controlled cooling and heating systems. Additional improvements of the 125acre site next to Route 146 include an expanded parking area, new entrance, and trail and habitat development. This is a $13-million facility funded, says Cioffi, through savings, donations and grants and a $5 million bond through the Rhode Island
“This will make the MacColl YMCA a cornerstone of the community with a powerful mission to impact lives through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.” - Esselton McNulty, YMCA of Pawtucket General Director Economic Development Corporation. MacColl YMCA traces its roots back to the 1950’s and was built to accomodate the expanding needs of the Blackstone Valley. Local YMCA leaders wanted a summer camp for the children of Pawtucket and Central Falls, and they had their eye on an old dairy farm in Lincoln that was up for sale. Local businessman Norman MacColl came forward with the asking price, some $55,000, and board president, Henry Blais, cast the deciding vote to move forward. Soon after the purchase, the YMCA built a large pool for a family swim
club and to serve as a resource for the day camp program. Contractors building Route 146 dumped excess soil on the property to create two new ball fields for the camp. The original dairy barn was saved and converted to a program center. Over the years, sports programs were added to the mix along with expanding childcare services. After years of planning, ground was broken for the new facility in April 2011. Now, with the opening of the new facility, the name officially changes from MacColl Field to MacColl YMCA and with that the focus to full-time, year-round fitness, education and recreation for all ages that reflect the core focus areas of youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. It comes after the national organization’s move to “rebrand” itself with a new YMCA logo that uses simply “the Y” to align itself with how people most commonly refer to the organization. Reach this YMCA at 401-725-0773 or check the website at www.maccollymca.com.