Ground broken for northeast Fort Wayne YMCA branch

May 24, 2016

Ground broken for northeast Fort Wayne YMCA branch

Rosa Salter Rodriguez | The Journal Gazette

With the steady buzz and beeping of nearby heavy construction vehicles as background, 11 dignitaries in white hard hats lifted shovels of dirt Tuesday during a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new YMCA branch in northeast Fort Wayne.

The Jackson R. Lehman Family YMCA along St. Joe Center Road just west of Maplecrest Road will be a fully accessible facility that was designed with people with special needs in mind, said Marty Pastura, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne.

"We want this to be a celebration, because in my opinion this is a great day for our community and for this part of our city and for the YMCA," he said.

Pastura said the 70,000-square foot Y, which plans a June 2017 opening, will be much like the Parkview Y on Dupont Road and the Jorgensen Y on Aboite Center Road.

But it will have two pools, including a warm-water therapy pool, and other features for people with special mobility or sensory needs, he said.

The facility will include two special changing rooms with beds to assist caretakers and a sensory room, a quiet place where children and adults with autism can adjust to their surroundings.

The wellness areas with fitness equipment will have aisles wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. And the facility will have an in-house physical therapy clinic operated by Parkview Health, Pastura said.

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