By Victor Ocasio
For the News-Gazette

After an almost year-long renovation and expansion project, the Osceola County YMCA celebrated its grand reopening and ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 30, and if it’s been awhile since you’ve seen your neighborhood Y, now is the perfect time to swing on by.

Work to restore and expand the 30-year-old facility unofficially began in August of last year, with an official groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 3, 2011. Of all the expansions though, the most notable is the addition of more than 7,000 square feet of space and a complete replacement of all workout equipment.

“Our equipment was getting old so now we have brand new equipment,” said Mike Martino, executive director of the Osceola County YMCA. “It was a total facelift. Everything is brand new right now and it’s really exciting.”

The nearly $2 million expansion project – funded by donations from the local community and Dr. Phillips Charities – also included the addition of two new adult locker rooms, a spin room, a group exercise room, new soccer field, a complete repainting of the building and an ongoing landscaping of the property grounds.

Martino has worked with YMCA centers for more than 20 years and made the transition from CEO of the YMCA in Sebring to executive director of the Osceola location little more than a year ago.

“You know it’s exciting times when you have a community that comes together, raises $2 million, and puts it right back into a building that can help the community,” said Martino. “After eight years in a CEO role, I thought it was time for a change. I gave everything I could to that Y and now I want to give everything I can to this Y.”

But despite the facility’s new look and feel, making the Y a visible part of the local community remains a challenge.

“I think what we found when we were going out to do some of our external marketing is that a lot of people didn’t even realize we were here, let alone that we expanded,” said Lori McCord, membership director for YMCA of Central Florida. “Now that we are larger, I think we have more to offer. We can accommodate more people.”

In addition to its standard gym equipment and machinery, the Osceola County YMCA also offers a whole slew of age appropriate programs, services, and classes for all of its members, including its new premiere program, Coach Approach.

“We sit down with our members one on one, find out what their goals are, and find out what we can do to help meet those goals,” said Martino. “It could be an eight week program, it could be a 12 week program, could be a six month program, whatever it takes to get to their goal. It’s going over pretty well.”

And whether it’s the success of the new program, the popularity of instructor led Zumba classes for seniors, the Y’s extensive after school programs for kids, or just the fresh coat of paint, membership since January 2012 has steadily increased.

Going from 527 memberships at the beginning of the year to 868 this past August, Martino and his team are well on their way to reaching their goal of 1,000 memberships by December – a sure sign that the word about the Y is getting out.  

“We offer so much, we’d like to think that we are the hub of the whole community.”