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New YMCA Wanted In Wesley Chapel

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By GEOFF FOX

gfox@tampatrib.com

Published: January 11, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - No site has been located and there is no money set aside to build a new YMCA in Wesley Chapel.

However, the idea of adding a new YMCA to the growing area in south-central Pasco County is something leaders with the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA are exploring, said Tom Looby, president and chief executive officer of the organization.

"We've received consistent phone calls and comments from individuals in Wesley Chapel who want a YMCA closer to where they live," he said. "A lot of them may be members at other branches, but the area's getting more congested. That has probably started us looking at what it would take" to establish a new site.

The Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA operates locations in Zephyrhills and Dade City, as well as Hillsborough County. YMCAs on the west side of Pasco are run by YMCA of the Suncoast.

Jen Silvers, executive director of the East Pasco Family YMCA in Zephyrhills, said between 10 percent and 15 percent of the branch's members live around Wesley Chapel. The East Pasco YMCA boasts about 1,350 family units, which means between 4,000 and 5,000 people are members.

Silvers said a new YMCA in Wesley Chapel probably wouldn't affect business at her location off Eiland Boulevard, west of the city.

"We're all the same, so our members can go to any branch," she said.

Numbers are similar at the New Tampa Family YMCA in Tampa Palms, said Rosemary Jones, executive director of that location. She said about 14 percent - roughly 1,280 people - of the branch's members have a Wesley Chapel address.
Looby said he and other YMCA officials took an "informal drive" around Wesley Chapel a few weeks ago. Building a new YMCA could cost "several millions of dollars," but he said it's way too early to estimate how much a new location might cost.

"There are a lot of variables, including what we're going to build and how much we can get donated," Looby said. "A lot of times, as a nonprofit charity, we get land donated to us. If that happens, it brings the cost down.

"It's on our to-do list, but there's not much to report right now. We don't have any land, any funds or even a hopeful site. We don't have a timeline."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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