SPL LIVING
Looking Back on a Century
YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg PHOTOS/YMCA OF GREATER ST. PETERSBURG
BY MONICA KILE In 1920 St. Petersburg was a sleepy tourist town on the verge of a tremendous population boom. Motivated by a desire to meet growing social needs in the community, a small group of citizen leaders met on a late spring evening to form the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg. Like its counterparts at home and abroad, the St. Petersburg YMCA sought to provide safe refuge, fellowship, sport, and life skills to its members. Within a few short years it was serving thousands of young men through gymnastics, swimming and fitness programs, as well as camping and church groups. One hundred years later, the organization still shines as a beacon of health and community spirit. Today’s YMCA offers a wide variety of programming from its state-of-the art facility on 1st Avenue South, but many still fondly remember its original ornate downtown location, built just a few years after its founding. With its 1925 opening, the grand Mediterranean Revival style building began to serve as a community gathering place, hosting dignitaries and important events alongside youth basketball games and swimming lessons.
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November/December 2020
Its dormitory provided accommodation to young men new to town or just getting on their feet, and during WWII housed thousands of servicemen paying 50 cents a night while on short leave from nearby airfields. The Y’s popular summer camp MaWi-An (its name taken from the first two letters of the daughter of Dr. A.W. Anderson, who donated the land for the camp) was a place where young boys learned outdoor skills like archery and canoeing, and took their daily swim. Yet, like all of early St. Petersburg, the YMCA did not welcome all citizens equally. The grand downtown building was off limits to black members. After prodding from the community, the Colored Branch YMCA opened in 1945, later renamed the Melrose Park YMCA. Its beloved leader, Dean Mohr, was
