Marblehead Reporter
Thursday, November 13, 2003
By Bette Keva, bkeva@cnc.com

The YMCA of the North Shore has purchased 19.5 acres of land off Leggs Hill Road to build a new facility, which will have two pools, be more than three times as large as the YMCA on Pleasant Street that it will replace and offer a huge amount of open space for public use.

Earlier plans by a Cleveland-based developer to build approximately 160 town houses on the par­cel have been dropped.  The developer, Forest City Residential, sold all but 2 acres of its land to the YMCA for $2.9 million, the YMCA announced this week.

The 2 acres retained by Forest City Residential are in Marblehead close to the Salem line.  The developer intends to build six single-family homes there, according to Paul Gonnan, executive director of Marblehead-Swampscott YMCA.

The entire parcel has some trees, brush, piles of rocks and the rubble from concrete foundations.  It was an old construction dump used by former owners, the Mackey Brothers, said Gorman.

The cost to build the new 50,000 to 60,000­square-foot Marblehead-Swampscott YMCA is $10 million, which includes the purchase of the land.  Approximately $4 million has already been raised through a fund-raising campaign chaired by Peter and Carolyn Lynch, Eyk and Rose-Marie Van Otterloo, and Carol and William P. Adams and their committee.

The commiittee's goal is to begin construction in the fall of 2004 after the approval process is complete, and to open the doors to the new Y in the fall of 2005, according to Gorman.  The existing YMCA on Pleasant Street in Marblehead is the smallest on the North Shore at 16,000 square feet.  It has been located in the heart of Marblehead since 1910.  It will continue in operation until the new facility is completed.

The sale of the Pleasant Street YMCA will contribute to the final phase of fund raising, said YMCA Board President David C. Quade."Having us up there will make it a lot less dense of a project" said Gorman.  "YMCAs are located in residential areas all over the country.  Kids can walk or ride bikes to the Y It's family friendly."  He added, "If for some reason we needed to, we may sell off some house lots, but our goal is to keep land for the Y and for open space."

The total 21 -acre site is situated in Salem and MArblehead.

economic impact for the community," said and Marblehead.  The YMCA will be constructed inside Salem city limits, so all permits will come from Salem.  "A new Y has been long overdue.  All our them, but with 20 acres to work with, "We issues are related to space. We're at peak times for all programs.  We can't keep older kids, teens and adults because the facilities are too small," said Gorman

The YMCA leases space at Salem State College's pool for its swim team, at the old Warwick movie theater for its gymnasium, and in Marblehead and Swampscott for two preschool classes.

Gorman expects membership at the new YMCA to increase by about 50 percent, from 3,000 to 6,000 members.  He believes the population will change from a preponderance of the very young to serving the entire family.

The YMCA employs 150 people plus 120 teens during the summer.
"That will increase, and that is a positive economic impact for the comunity,: Gorman said. 

Gorman said he understands the need e to be sensitive to abutters and to work with them, but with 20 acres to work with, "We can position the Y pretty far away from the abutters."

He promised that the Y will be "a place for every generation."

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