More than two dozen Waldoboro citizens stopped by a public meeting at the Soule-Shuman Memorial VFW Post 4525, Aug. 30, to see drawings of the facade and floor plans under consideration for the Central Lincoln County YMCA’s renovation of the former A.D. Gray School.
Voters will go to the polls Tues., Sept. 11 to decide whether Waldoboro will enter into a lease purchase agreement, under which the YMCA would transform the 77-year-old building into The Gay and Stan and Anne Bailey Recreational Center.
“These are preliminary plans,” YMCA Executive Director Craig Wilson said. “We’re here looking for public input.”
He said there would be many more occasions for Waldoboro residents to ask questions and make suggestions as the project goes through its permitting and construction stages, before a permanent set of plans will be drawn up.
An architect’s rendering of the new main entrance facade, drawn by YMCA board member Tor Glendinning, shows handicap access and an elevator shaft, built into what is currently an inset area on the side of the building that faces the parking lot. That new section will also house office space.
Glendinning said the facade was designed to highlight the appearance of the existing building and that parts of the exterior wall would remain intact and visible inside.
“We’re trying to maintain a piece of history,” he said.
In the current rendition, other first floor spaces would be reconfigured to contain a large room for childcare and other programs and another, slightly larger, room to be used as a teen and senior center. A deck would provide outdoor space for teens and adults to gather.
The existing three-quarter sized gymnasium would be used for programs that include the sort of team sports for which it was built.
“It’s the perfect size for the YMCA,” Wilson said. “We’re running little kid basketball.”
In addition to the boiler room, the basement level would contain the lower level of the gymnasium and boys’ and girls’ locker rooms.
Pointing to the original plans for the structure, Wilson showed that the school had only a boys’ locker room and was not built with a place for female students to shower or store clothes and equipment.
A northwest stairwell, between the upper two floors, would be converted into a two-story climbing wall.
One second floor room would be configured to provide space for group exercise programs such as aerobics, yoga, tai chi and other martial arts, while another would serve the after school program.
A third room would contain the fitness center and a fourth would house an art and music room, something new for the CLC YMCA. Wilson said the art and music programs would be geared to all ages.
Information about the proposed agreement and the YMCA’s plans can be found at the town website at waldoboromaine.org.
Polls for the Sept. 11 special town meeting referendum, which also includes questions about the fiscal year 2013 budget, will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Waldoboro Municipal Building on Rt. 1. Absentee ballots are available until Thurs., Sept. 6 at the town office, for those unable to vote at the polls. For more information, call the Waldoboro Town Office at 832-5369.
