Early architect

GENESEO, NY — SUNY Geneseo and Genesee-Wyoming YMCA made a major announcement before representatives the Geneseo community Monday afternoon at the Big Tree Inn. The two entities will be partnering in building a $30 million shared use facility on the college campus.

The 108,000 square foot autonomous structure will occupy a spot on the lower campus west of the Schrader Sports Building/Merritt Athletic Center complex and east of Route 63.

YMCA spokesman Wes Audsley gave due credit to three charter members of a Geneseo committee who contacted him three years ago with the seemingly far-fetched notion of bringing a YMCA to Geneseo.

The contact led to the Village of Geneseo contracting the ‘Y’ as operator of its summer recreational programs while also generating an interest on the part of the college administration in a possible shared building.

That interest has now manifested itself in a conceptual study contracted to LaBella Associates, initiated and financed by SUNY Geneseo.

The SUNY campus ‘Y’ would be the fourth YMCA structure operated by Geneseo-Wyoming YMCA, soon to be known as Genesee-Livingston-Orleans-Wyoming (GLOW) YMCA.

Other ‘Y’ buildings are in Batavia, Warsaw, and Medina.

The region contains three YMCA buildings which have shared use with other entities: Warsaw (with Genesee Community College), Olean and Edinboro, Pa. This will be the first shared use YMCA on a SUNY campus.

Audsley foresees the ‘Y’ becoming “an incubator for collaboration” between campus and community, between generations, and between local groups and organizations.

While the YMCA’s 25,000 world-wide branches are operated as nonprofit businesses, they also pride themselves in serving their communities, to the extent that no individual is ever barred from YMCA membership and activities for lack of adequate income.

Jeffrey Rollenson of LaBella predicted that the facility would reach a membership of 10,000, assuming a proven 6 percent participation from students, Geneseo residents and Livingston County people within a ten mile radius. Anyone who lives, works or studies in Livingston County will be eligible for membership.

Slightly over half the footprint of the new structure would be a field house containing indoor courts and locker rooms for college teams. There would be seating for spectators and multi-use potential for concerts and conferences.

Rollenson described the service areas which will center about a common lobby with a single main entry, from which a variety of activities can be observed and which itself would encourage socializing with a cafe and cozy lounge with fireplace.

Separate locker areas (with private and compartmentalized changing stations) will serve wet and dry corridors.

The wet corridor will feature a swimming pool wide enough for four-to-eight lap lanes and a ‘fun pool’ with variable depth from zero to 3.5 feet.

The dry corridor will feature a gymnasium and walking track. There would be ‘tween’ and adult wellness centers with nautilus and other exercise devices, a fitness studio, a yoga and meditation center, and child watch center with a great variety of activities for children.

College President Chris Dahl was enthusiastic over the concept, pledging full SUNY Geneseo commitment. He elaborated how the ‘Y’ would benefit community and college, while fulfilling the college’s mission to serve the community.

Dahl sees the proposed YMCA as the essential third piece among three major SUNY Geneseo projects, the others being the new $13 million all weather sports stadium and the reconstruction of the Doty building.

All three offer wonderful potential as “collision points” for college and community — and compliment one another in serving the community.

The stadium and Doty offer new opportunities but both, until the present announcement, threatened to remove opportunities as well, specifically with the closure of the Doty gym and demolition of the Holcomb school. Now, the new facilities at the ‘Y’ promise to compensate for the lost spaces many times over.

Tagged as: development, SUNY Geneseo, YMCA