Longtime Central YMCA members say goodbye to the ?Y’: ?The dungeon? closes its doors to make way for new facility at 1327 First Ave., which opens Monday [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.]

Jan. 28--Users call it "the dungeon." The name's appropriate. A gladiator would feel at home in the room where barbells are lifted before being dropped onto beams of wood.

The gymnasium would fit perfectly in a scene from "Hoosiers."

Swimmers are showered by droplets of water coming from a ceiling bereft of tile.

A faded sign on a stairwell reminds, "no spitting in the corridor."

Dressing room lockers are rusted, doors broken. Showers continue to run after being turned off.

Peeling paint is plentiful.

Still, the Central YMCA will be missed by many longtime users.

Wednesday was the last day of use for the facility on 11th Street in Columbus.

A new facility at 1327 First Ave. opens Monday.

It's hard to say goodbye

The original YMCA building was built in 1903 but the majority of activity has taken place in the addition made in 1952.

The land was bought by First Presbyterian Church in 2004 and rented to the YMCA until a new downtown facility could be completed.

Little has changed through the years, though. For example, in an upstairs dressing room, three posters on the wall each feature a Southeastern Conference football coach -- Vince Dooley, Pat Dye and Paul "Bear" Bryant.

Aflac chairman and CEO Dan Amos has been a member for 37 years. Last Friday, he had his final workout at the facility.

"It was kind of funny cleaning out that locker," Amos said. "I have had the same locker for 37 years. It was crazy, like seeing your life pass in front of you. I remembered when I joined, when I worked out and didn't feel too good, when I won a game I wasn't expected to win. It brought back so many memories."

He'll like the new one as well.

"I am not only a member of the Y. I love the Y," Amos said. "I love the diversity and the people, the feeling you get when you go in that Y, it is Columbus. In many ways, it is symbolic of the city."

Local builder and developer John P. Thayer also has a strong attachment to the YMCA. He has served on the board for 40 years. His name will adorn the new facility.

"It has served its purpose," Thayer said of the old building.

Thayer, 69, began a regular routine at the YMCA in 1965 after finishing at the University of Georgia.

"I have been right there ever since," he said.

Thayer, too, likes the diversity of the organization.

"It is the most diverse group of people you will see anywhere," he said. "It makes no difference in color, race or creed. They all play together."

Business as usual

On the last day at Central, it was business as usual. Treadmills were humming, the racquetball courts full. Groans came from people working on shoulder and leg press machines.

Signs on various exercise machines spelled out which were going to other YMCA branches and which had been sold.

Keith Jackson, a 44-year-old loan officer at Phenix-Girard Bank, has been coming to the YMCA for 29 years.

"I've made a lot of friendships here," he said. "I know the new Y will be great but still I've gotten to know this place so well it will be tough to leave. I know it will be for some others, as well. When I was in high school, this is where I'd come to lift weights. The schools didn't have all have the facilities they have today."

Retired Columbus attorney Milton Jones has been using the YMCA for 67 years. "I watched the addition go up," he said. "I taught swimming and if I wasn't the first one in the pool here, I was one of the first."

Most of all, he is looking forward to the new pool.

Branch Manager Kim Pilcher is just looking forward to working in an office "where the roof doesn't leak."

"It's kind of sad leaving," she said, "but this building is about worn out. It will be exciting to be in the new facility."

Thayer said be believed the new facility would increase membership.

"I don't have the numbers but our membership has really shot up since we announced the new place," confirmed Pilcher.

Tabia Hicks is the membership supervisor. She said members and non-members alike seem to be excited about the new YMCA.

Hicks said, "the move to a new building is long overdue."

Staff writer Chuck Williams contributed to this report.

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