Plans to expand the Crown Point YMCA are moving forward. The city council Monday approved a special use permit for a planned 92,212-square-foot sports center northeast of the existing building.
"It's going to have about eight basketball court/volleyball court/multi-sport courts, 10 to 12 indoor pickleball courts, dual entrances," Crossroads YMCA CEO Jay Buckmaster told council members.
Outside the new building, the YMCA plans to add an artificial turf football field along Main Street and about four outdoor pickleball courts.
Buckmaster said the new sports center will allow for additional court times and new programs. "A lot of that is just to create more family time for inside of the Southlake Y. It's a busy Y, so moving a lot of our current sports activities — youth sports activities, games — and allowing more practice time," Buckmaster explained.
Council member Chad Jeffries was concerned about parking and traffic. He expects that more turn lanes would have to be added on Main Street. But Buckmaster said the site sees far less traffic than it did when the former hospital was open, and the YMCA is looking to expand a long-term parking agreement for the former hospital site.
"We're working on more because we've got a future plan we're working on with Franciscan, so that might take care of itself even further than that," Buckmaster added.
A traffic study is currently underway, which will be presented to the plan commission. The plan commission will also have to approve re-subdivision and site development requests, before the project moves forward.
The project needed a special use permit, since the site is in a residential zone. Similar approvals have been given to previous YMCA projects over the years.
Crossroads YMCA recently opened a new location in Hammond and plans to renovate the old Hammond location into a program center.