Weber took the helm of Springfield’s YMCA this past summer, and he already had planned an event for later this month in the vein of TV’s “Extreme Home Makeover” to freshen up the building.
The overnight weekend flooding closed the YMCA for three days this week — the weight room still was off limits Thursday — and pushed the makeover event back to Nov. 14-17.
But, there’s now a greater sense of urgency to bring the facility, which likely hasn’t had many remodels since it opened in 1989, into the 21st century.
“What I want people to see when they walk in the building is that we care,” Weber said. “They know that from our personal interactions with them, but the building needs to reflect that.
“You only get one chance to impress someone.”
The Y has set aside some money for the makeover, Weber said, but he’s really hoping to make it a community event — again in the vein of the TV show — by recruiting an army of volunteers to make it happen.
To participate in the “Springfield Family YMCA Extreme Makeover,” call the Y at 937-323-3781. Participants don’t need to be members.
Weber said the local Lowes has expressed interest in taking part.
“This is just a huge do-it-yourself project,” he said.
What they accomplish during those four days next month will depend largely on the skill sets of the volunteers and the donations the YMCA staff can muster up.
“The bigger thing is the human capital,” Weber said.
The process of bringing people together to benefit a longtime community institution is “what the Y’s all about,” he said.
“YMCAs are notorious for forming small group relationships,” he said. “Exercise does that.”
Most of the work will be done within the four-day period, but likely will continue leading up to the holidays, when new members visit the Y to make good on New Year’s resolutions.
Cleaning, painting, landscaping, building, moving and fixing are all on Weber’s checklist of things to get done before then.
“This makeover is our reintroduction to the community,” he said.
Mike Hatfield, a retired Springfield police officer, has been working out at the YMCA six days a week for eight years. Like most of the Y’s 4,200 current members, he’s learned to overlook the facility’s imperfections.
“I’m used to it by now,” Hatfield confessed Thursday morning after his workout.
But, it doesn’t take him long to rattle off what could be improved.
“The machines are a little old, but they get the job done,” he said. “We could use some new tiles in the ceiling.”
“Roof’s in disrepair,” he added.
For Weber, the makeover coincides with both programming changes, including a planned expansion of sports programs, and next year’s milestone for the YMCA in Springfield.
“It’s a way to freshen the place up and at the same time signify that we are different,” he said.
Next year marks the 160th anniversary of the YMCA in Springfield, making it among the oldest Ys in the nation. It’s believed to be the second-oldest in Ohio, Weber said.
The last thing he wants is for the place to still reek of 1989 by 2014.
“The Y changed my life,” Weber said. “I’d like to give everyone in Springfield that same experience.”
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