After 58 years, the YMCA is returning to downtown South Bend, albeit in a smaller way.
The YMCA of Greater Michiana Tuesday announced it will move into the third and fourth floors of the Leighton Healthplex building, leasing it for free from the city for the next eight years.
In exchange, the YMCA will give the city its former headquarters at 1201 Northside Boulevard. The nonprofit built that facility in 1964 and demolished its downtown location at Main and Wayne streets that it built in 1908. A parking garage now stands there, a block away from the Leighton building.
The Northside building has sat vacant since its closure in 2020 as the Y struggled to stay open and raise money for needed upgrades during the pandemic.
Beacon Health System, with a busy fitness center in Granger, is moving its fitness program from the Leighton building. The Y is grateful that they’ve donated all the equipment, says Morissa Beckman, the Y’s marketing director.
"We're so excited," Beckman said. "We think that this is a perfect location for us. We love being in the YMCA O'Brien Center as well but to be back in the heartbeat of South Bend, it's kind of really the central area."
The Y plans to open in June and will waive sign-up fees in June and July.
