The YMCA of the Inland Northwest has decided to move forward with further investigation into developing a new facility on Spokane’s South Hill. 

The idea for a South Hill facility came about last month, as a result of a market research study conducted for the organization by Spokane-based consulting firm Strategic Research Associates LLC. The data collected indicated a strong membership interest in creating a South Hill YMCA location.

CEO Steve Tammaro says the organization’s senior leadership staff analyzed the study’s data, and formulated a recommendation based on its findings, which it then presented to the YMCA board of directors in its May 24 meeting. 

“The board voted, and unanimously approved to move forward with the next steps in the process of building a YMCA facility on the South Hill,” says Tammaro.

He says the next step will be to hire a company to conduct a capital campaign feasibility study to determine the building’s construction costs and to develop a plan for attracting the funds needed to launch the project. 

“Now that it’s a viable possibility, the question becomes how we go about raising the funding,” he says. 

Tammaro estimates that building a South Hill facility, similar in size to the organization’s 54,000-square-foot North YMCA complex at 10727 N. Newport Highway, could cost about $16 million. 

YMCA has two facilities in addition to the one north of Spokane: the Central YMCA, at 930 N. Monroe, and the Valley YMCA, at 2421 N. Discovery Place. 

The organization broke ground on both the Central YMCA and the North YMCA in 2008, opening their doors in 2009. The construction costs for both of those locations were funded through capital campaigns, and Tammaro says the organization plans to do the same with this new facility. 

Tammaro said he hopes to see a feasibility study for the campaign launch this fall. He says the next step after developing a funding plan will be to look into potential building sites. 

“We tested general areas in the first survey, but now we’ll be digging deeper into building types, and finding available acreage for building sites,” he says.