Take a climb at the Streator Y

The Streator YMCA is challenging community members to reach new heights with a new multipurpose room featuring a climbing wall.

The area formerly designed for racquetball boasts two new basketball hoops and an 8-foot-tall, 40-foot-wide climbing wall.

Executive Director Josh Biros said the project came together about a month ago at a committee meeting, where the idea came up to tear down the wall in the racquetball court to create a new space for youth.

In the wintertime especially we are just busy, Biros said. We have so many programs going on right now that we dont have anywhere to put them, or if people want to come in and shoot baskets, they cant right now because there is no space. And unfortunately, the racquetball courts sit empty. We are paying yearlong to heat and cool the area, and it is just not cost effective for us.

Racquetball has seen a decline in the last 20 years, Biros said. After conducting a study, the YMCA determined about seven members out of 2,300 were using the racquetball courts for racquetball or squash exclusively.

Unfortunately those few racquetball players had to lose the sport they enjoy the most and I apologize for that, Biros said. As a whole, we try to make everybody happy, but unfortunately, I have to try to make almost everybody happy here.

The project took less than two weeks to complete. One court was turned into a circuit training room, which is geared toward seniors and has easy accessibility for individuals with disabilities. Within the first week, the wall was eliminated and the gym floor was patched, sanded and has new polyurethane. The two basketball hoops and the wall were added next.

We were very fortunate that (Streator Onized Credit Union) and their employees donated $1,000 toward a portion of the basketball hoops, Biros said. We were also lucky that (Vactor Manufacturing) donated the entire climbing wall at a cost of $5,700. We were very lucky to create those relationships with those organizations in town and kind of help us with the burden of the cost of doing this.

The climbing wall is for elementary-aged children and older. Biros said the wall is kid-friendly and safe. There is a mat that locks up with a key, so no one can use the wall while it is locked. About 3 feet up is a red safety line, which the kids are not allowed to go above.

Remodeling is ongoing to turn the upstairs mezzanine that was previously used for viewing the racquetball courts into a birthday party area. The YMCA has revamped its birthday party packages with this new space in mind. Before the new space was added, just the pool or the gym could be rented out.

Read the original here:
Take a climb at the Streator Y