Facility of the Month: May 2020
Sheridan County YMCA
Sheridan, Wyoming
Mission
The Y is dedicated to putting Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all. We are committed to refusing no child membership for reasons of economic hardship.
Facilities
Our Community Aquatic Center project is the Sheridan County YMCA’s largest capital project in our 60-year history. The project started in 2017 and was completed in February 2020. The new center includes an addition of 35,000 square feet to our original facility and has given us the opportunity to create a new single entrance and reception area.
The center has five locker rooms, including an expanded family locker room. The adult-only locker rooms have saunas, and beautiful tile and locker finishes. The Aquatic Center has two separate bodies of water — one being a family pool with zero entry and a vortex (a consolidated area with spinning water for resistance exercises), and the second being a lap pool with six lanes and rock climbing wall.
Highlights
The natatorium includes a zero entry toddler area with play features and a slide. There is also a cargo net and lily pad crossing, basketball area and vortex. There are two slides, with one tube slide taking the rider out of the building and ending in the family pool. The second slide is a shorter run, but drops the rider six feet above the water into the deep end of the lap pool. The lap pool also has a climbing wall that can be programmed while having four lanes continually open for lap swimmers.
Fun Facts
- Our YMCA is one of only four YMCAs in the state of Wyoming. We have been in the same physical location since the early 1960s and maintained the original lap pool from that era until this last winter. We have attributed the longevity of this original pool to it being fully tiled. We invested in completely tiling both of our new pools to extend their lifespan.
- We offer over 40 camps and over 1,000 youth are served throughout the summer both through our day and resident camp options.
- Our Y houses two functional electrical stimulations (FES) that enables our members with paralysis to work out inclusively in our weight room. Our chronic disease programs are a top priority in our scheduling and facility usage.
- Arts programs and camps are incredibly popular at our YMCA, ranging from bucket drumming to book clubs. We offer singing classes to over 100 preschoolers throughout the community and have assembled over 80 elementary students into two phenomenal youth choirs.
- Our afterschool facility has students from every elementary school in our district bussed to one location, and we have the opportunity to take students ice skating weekly all winter long.
- We continue to improve. This spring, we will begin remodeling the decommissioned pool area and constructing a new youth center that will allow us to double our childcare and after school capacity. We will also be able to expand our health and wellness spaces to better serve our community’s needs.
