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The Grand Opening Celebration was held on Wednesday, February 15
at 4:00 p.m. The event began with tours of the new Family Aquatic
Center and renovated program spaces in the lower level of the
YMCA. On hand were 150 members of the community and 150 children
enrolled in the YMCA’s child care programs.
Guests received “I made a splash - Lawrence YMCA Family Aquatic
Center Grand Opening” t-shirts, and all of the children who were
on hand for the party wore them. Students of the Greater Lawrence
Technical School catered the event.
After 16 months of construction, the Lawrence Branch of the
Merrimack Valley YMCA completed the largest construction project
that branch has seen since it was erected in 1880. The new $2.7
million Family Aquatic Center consists of a new six-lane, 25-yard
indoor heated swimming pool, and has added more family changing
rooms, and a new women’s locker room. This new swimming pool is
nearly two and a half times larger than the 90-year-old pool it
replaced that faithfully served the YMCA for decades.
The new pool will give the Lawrence YMCA Branch the ability to run
more child and adult swimming and aquatic safety classes, more
lifeguard training courses, and will allow the Y to plan more
family fun swim time at the YMCA, bringing families together for
quality time. The Merrimack Valley YMCA’s award winning
competitive swim teams - the ANA Hurricanes and Synchers
Synchronized Swim team - will be able to expand their workout and
practice time in the new pool. Additionally, the YMCA will be able
to offer aquatics programming to
members of the new Methuen Branch YMCA.
Following the extensive building renovations to the lower level of
the branch where the old swimming pool was located, the
construction project included the addition of more program space
including a large multi-purpose room and large afterschool
classrooms.
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