New Home For Hunton YMCA

By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter Emeritus
New Journal & Guide

NORFOLK
Construction of  the third and newest home for the 151-year-old historic Hunton YMCA got closer to reality April 17.

The mayor, members of city council, the Y’s board members and staff participated in an event where a deed was signed transferring the land where the   new facility will sit on from city ownership.

On the now grassy and empty three-acre patch of land, where the Tidewater Gardens  Elementary school once sat, at 1045 E. Brambleton Avenue, city officials and Hunton leaders also broke ground for the new $22 million building.

The school once served the massive Tidewater Gardens public housing community. It was razed recently to make way for the St. Paul’s Quadrant Redevelopment Project.

According to  Ulysses Turner, a member of the Hunton Board of Directors, construction will be in three stages. The first one will  start by the end of 2026. It will be completed by the end of 2027.

He said the first phase will include the construction of the new YMCA’s classrooms and programs rooms,   administrative offices, space for community meetings, a library, child care center,  and cafeteria for the 32,000 square feet building.

He said the second phase will include the construction of the gymnasium and other athletic facilities. The final stage will be the development of the Hunton’s swimming pool.

During the April 17 ceremony,  participants in the event paid tribute to the late Cecelia  “Ce Ce” Tucker. She was a long-time board member who worked to secure the city’s support for the relocation of the Hunton to the new site.

“It was monumental. It was a milestone for us because we were able to sign the deed on this beautiful land, which will be the future site of the William A. Hunton YMCA,” said Tanja Williams, CEO of the Hunton YMCA, during the recent event to the media on hand.

Williams said the new facility is designed to serve youths from toddlers to teens as well as  seniors – while addressing key educational needs in the community.

“In the last one, the gym was old and it wasn’t regulation,” said Dan Banister, chairman of the board for the Hunton YMCA, “And now we’re going to be able to have a gymnasium that the community can use, that’s going to be regulation and also be able to provide swimming lessons, because we’re gonna have a nice new pool there. And those are things that the Norfolk community has had in the past.”

Banister is the principal owner of Virginia dealerships, Banister Nissan of Chesapeake, and Banister Nissan of Norfolk. He is one of only 15 Black-owned Nissan dealerships nationwide.

In a statement, Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander called the project an investment in both the neighborhood and future generations.

“As it advances fundraising and finalizes the first phase of its new facility in our new Kindred  (the new name for Tidewater Gardens) community, where more than 300 children will be served each day through early childhood education, we are investing in a legacy of service and in the future of Kindred,” Alexander said.

Turner said that the Hunton will retain its “independent status” and will not be merged with the Southside YMCA System.

According to Turner, the multi-stage construction effort is being funded by an  intensive fundraising effort launched several years ago after the Hunton was moved from its most recent home at 1139 Charlotte Street.

It was demolished to make way for the St. Paul’s project.  For the  past several  years, the  William A. Hunton YMCA  has been operating at a temporary location  in a wing of the Ambassadors for Christ Church at  5520 Tidewater Drive.

The Hunton moved to this site after the city acquired the  land it sat on.

When  the  new Hunton is built, it  will be the third home of  one of four remaining “Heritage YMCAs” in the country. Founded in 1875, it is considered the second-oldest YMCA in the United States and the oldest independent YMCA still in operation.