The 100-plus-year-old building that used to be home to the YMCA has a new owner

A downtown Olympia building that was home to the YMCA for more than 100 years has a new owner.

The building was put up for sale about a year ago after the organization — concerned about the cost to renovate its aging building — moved to Plum Street. The Plum Street YMCA opened in June.

The new owner of the old building is Dan Stacey, a longtime Olympia resident. Stacey declined to talk about his plans after he met a reporter, but he did offer this:

“Our approach will ultimately be one that contributes to the city’s strategic goals for downtown revitalization, and offers residents and visitors a unique experience within one of our oldest landmarks,” Stacey said in a follow up email to The Olympian.

“I look forward to sharing a more precise preview in the near future,” he added.

Stacey paid $500,000 for the 30,000-square-foot building at 510 Franklin St. SE, Thurston County Assessor’s Office data show. The sale closed in early October.

Proceeds from the sale of the building covers some of what was invested into the new Plum Street location, said Kyle Cronk, president and chief executive of the South Sound YMCA, which covers Thurston, Lewis and Mason counties.

The organization didn’t build a new building on Plum Street — it acquired the former 5th Avenue Fitness and renovated the structure.

Not only did the move make sense for the YMCA, but it made sense for Chick Barcellona, the former longtime owner of 5th Avenue Fitness. He was looking to retire.

Barcellona told The Olympian he didn’t want to close the club and leave his members adrift, so he approached the YMCA.

“The beauty of this, from a member’s standpoint, is that it’s happening right here, where the business has always been, and it will be brand new,” he said.

Although YMCA members still express nostalgia for the old location, memberships are up since Plum Street opened in June, Cronk said.

Cronk was enthusiastic about not only the Plum Street YMCA, but other organizational efforts, too.

In addition to Plum Street and the Briggs location on Yelm Highway, the youth and community development department, along with administrative functions, were consolidated into a location on Olympia’s west side at the Percival Creek Professional Plaza.

But there’s even bigger news, said Cronk.

The fundraising effort to open a YMCA in Shelton — a city that has never had one — is off to a good start. The organization has raised $10.1 million of a $16 million goal so far. It expects to raise the remaining amount by the first quarter of 2019, break ground in July 2019 and have “kids in the pool” by the fourth quarter of 2020, Cronk said.

“It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done,” he said.

This story was originally published November 15, 2018 at 1:38 PM.