New Whitehaven YMCA to open in 2022: Here’s what to expect
A year from now Whitehaven-area residents will be enjoying a new and improved YMCA.
The state-of-the-art Georgette and Cato Johnson YMCA is under construction at the site of the current Davis Family YMCA at 4727 Elvis Presley Blvd. The new YMCA will serve as a multipronged community resource center.
“Whitehaven is a very proud and historically important part of our community, and it has so many, so many things to offer, and so really being there to help continue the renaissance of the community that has gone through a great deal of change was really important,” said Anthony Norris, senior vice president and chief development officer of YMCA of Memphis and the Midsouth.
The project broke ground on April 7. Self + Tucker Architects is behind the $12.6 million project estimated to be completed in summer 2022.
The Davis YMCA, which opened in 1959, is closed during construction.
The namesakes of the new facility, Georgette and Cato Johnson, are prominent members of the Memphis community. Cato serves as the chief of staff at Methodist South and has been a longtime supporter of the Y, according to Norris.
It will be the second Y in Tennessee named after a family of color, Norris said. The other is Cansler Family YMCA in Knoxville.
There were already plans to demolish a part of the Davis structure due to safety concerns, so the organization used it as an opportunity to build a more enhanced community resource center. The new facility will be roughly four times larger than the original.
Norris said the new Y has to address more issues including health disparities, the education achievement gap and the need for a community hub for social services and collaboration.
“There's some very serious systemic inequities that exist in our communities,” Norris said. He hopes that beyond the physical structure, the new YMCA will “be a vessel to provide hope, as well as vital services to the community to sustain it.”
The Georgette and Cato YMCA'S planned amenities include:
Early Learning Center
Affordable, family-friendly wellness center
Enclosed, year-round aquatics and swimming facility Before and Afterschool Care center
A hub for wellness screenings, social and educational programming, and community healing in mind, body and spirit.
“As a community, we realized it needed to be more than a traditional Y that we have in our association that already do a lot of those great things,” Norris said. “But this, specifically, was designed to have an Early Learning Center to meet a shortage of childcare and step towards what we hope one day will be universal Pre-k in partnership with Shelby County Schools, as well as having an indoor pool.”
The Y is also planning to partner with Methodist South Hospital to provide health screenings, rehabilitation and referrals.
In a promotional video about the groundbreaking, Memphis City Councilwoman Patrice Robinson expressed joy about the new facility.
“This supports our whole community. It's been a long time coming, and I am really excited about it,” she said.
Norris said it's imperative for the Y to remain relevant in the ways it serves the Memphis community.
“It will be a part of what will be the transformation of our community,” he said.
Astrid Kayembe covers South Memphis, Whitehaven and Westwood. She can be reached at astrid.kayembe@commercialappeal.com or (901) 304-7929.