New YMCA to be next step in Tampa Heights transformation

Another historic building getting new life

Lloyd Sowers reports

TAMPA, Fla. - Matt Mitchell's job is to change things a lot, but hold on to the past.

"Tampa Heights is an historic neighborhood," said Mitchell, the President and CEO of Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA.

It's also a neighborhood that's quickly changing. The Armature Works food and entertainment venue, new apartments and restaurants, and many new residents have moved in over the past decade.

In the years ahead, a new $40 million dollar YMCA and development of the 6 acres surrounding it will bring even more changes to the area.

"We want to make sure this YMCA meets the needs of people who have lived here for 40 or 50 years, but also meets the needs of new individuals coming to town," said Mitchell.

As you might expect, the new YMCA will have new workout facilities, but new renderings show how it's designed to help this old organization reach farther into the lifestyles people want.

"It will include new community rooms where we do programs for diabetes prevention, programs for cancer survivors, and CPR classes," said Mitchell.

Plans call for the area around the YMCA to include a boutique hotel, an office building, a residential building, and shops and restaurants. It will also be the northern terminus of a new, bigger and faster streetcar system that now awaits federal funding.

"We're an organization that supports that," said Mitchell. "To have that stop right in front of our building makes it easier for our community to get to this YMCA."

Mitchell says, as they've designed it, they've listened to the community. They deleted a rooftop play area to keep noise down and moved the location of a childcare pickup away from a residential street.

"This is going to be a pretty special YMCA," said Mitchell.

One building they will tear down is the current Central City YMCA on Palm Avenue. It's not a historical building. It will remain open until the new one is built. They hope to break ground by Fall 2025.

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