YMCA details $9 million plans for new Steele Creek site. It includes a splash park

The YMCA of Greater Charlotte announced plans on Thursday to build the initial 14,000-square-foot phase of a facility in Steele Creek.

The $9 million facility on 30 acres at Highway 160, south of Sledge Road, will include a welcome center, group exercise and cycling studios, wellness center, childcare facility, fitness lawn, sports field and an outdoor aquatic center, which will feature a lap pool, splash park and wade pool, according to a press release from the YMCA.

Andi Kennington, executive director of the Steele Creek YMCA, said no date is set for when it will open because that depends on when the project is fully funded. All of the funding will come from private donations, she said.

It would be the first YMCA facility to open since 2016, when Sara’s YMCA opened in Ballantyne.

More than $3.5 million has been raised, according to the Y, including a $3 million gift from Ken Gill, founder and CEO of CPI Security, and wife Malinda Gill, a Y board member.

“Gill Family YMCA will create a centralized location for our Y to expand,” Kennington said in a statement.

This is the first in multiple phases for developing the site, Kennington said. She did not release more details about what might be included.

Homebuilder Pulte Group has plans for up to 697 single-family units near the new YMCA site on 272 acres, the Observer reported last month.

Terwilliger Pappas is building a 230-unit apartment complex, and developed a 275-unit building nearby, the Observer reported. Pollack Shores, an Atlanta-based developer, is building 330 apartments next to Charlotte Premium Outlets.

Steele Creek YMCA has operated out of a leased storefront since 2004 in Ayrsley Town Center and has operated youth programs at churches and schools throughout the area.

Kennington said children’s programs are run out of two Steele Creek churches. The Steele Creek YMCA has the fourth-largest afterschool program and fifth-largest day camp in the YMCA of Greater Charlotte, she said. According to the Y, there are 166 children in the afterschool program and 415 in the summer camp.

“We will continue to have off-site partnerships,” Kennington said.

The YMCA of Greater Charlotte, has 19 membership locations and two overnight camps. For more information, visit ymcacharlotte.org.

This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 11:08 AM with the headline "YMCA details $9 million plans for new Steele Creek site. It includes a splash park."