ESCANABA — The renovation of the former Bay College M-TEC facility into the new home for the Northern Lights YMCA is making rapid progress, according to YMCA officials. The project has been underway since the YMCA and Bay College agreed to a new 50 year lease for the facility back in late February.

The $1.7 million project was made possible through a grant to the college from the Hannahville Indian Community and construction began almost immediately after signing the new agreement.

“This renovation has been remarkable to watch,” said Gary Nash YMCA executive director. “The building was in good condition to begin with and with all the contractors are doing, it’s making the building into a first-class YMCA facility”. One of the main undertakings was making the former machining lab into a new gymnasium. It involved removing two existing pillars on the old machining floor and replacing it with a new beam.

“The overall size of the room was there” said Nash. “We just needed to make it a total free span to accommodate a regulation court” he added. The new court will receive a hardwood floor from the Connor floor company in Amasa.

Other renovations have included the transformation of the former EMT lab into locker rooms. The new locker rooms will be larger than the existing locker rooms and will be air conditioned in the summer. Something the old locker rooms did not have.

“We are really excited about this transformation” said Hadele Peacock YMCA membership and marketing director and co-leader of the project. “This will offer our members so much more in terms of space and additional services”. The new facilities will also include a youth recreation area and a member social area, facilities that were also missing in the existing facility. The YMCA plans to bring aquatic facilities over to the new location in Phase 2 of the project.

The project is scheduled to conclude in August with the YMCA opening the week of August 23 if everything goes to according to the schedule.

“We’ve been blessed with good timing and progress so far” said Nash. The Phase 2 portion of the project will begin with fundraising this fall and construction beginning in approximately 2 years, provided the funding goals are met. That portion of the project is expected to cost between $3.5 and $4 million with those funds coming from a community fundraising effort and grants. Currently the YMCA is being considered for a Community Benefit Project under the COVID relief act passed earlier this year.