Tuscaloosa Awards Latest Contract For New Benjamin Barnes YMCA

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to enter into a professional services agreement with Chambless King Architects for the next phase of work on a new Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA.

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The package offered by the Montgomery-based firm came in at a total of $675,000, which will feature a wide range of services, including architectural design; Civil, structural and mechanical engineering; Special inspections and more.

The bid came in slightly under the $750,000 budgeted by the City Council for professional services with the project, but the Public Projects Committee was informed during its Nov. 8 meeting that additional services would be needed with respect to resurfacing and rezoning at the property on the McDonald Hughes Community Center campus.

As it stands, the latest projected opening date for the new Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA would be in December 2024.

The city now has roughly $9 million left from the $10 million set aside to construct the new YMCA branch in the city's West End, with $500,000 coming from Elevate Tuscaloosa and the remaining $9.5 million from the city's fiscal year 2022 bond issuance.

The City Council in August approved $450,000 from the project budget to enter into an agreement with Mobile-based Volkert, Inc. for owner representation services.

As Patch previously reported in March, the Tuscaloosa City Council chose the McDonald Hughes Center campus from a list of five potential sites for the big move for the Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA.

Other proposed sites included Pecan Grove, Stillman Heights Elementary, Dragons Lane and the existing site of the branch.

City leaders in support of the McDonald Hughes Center campus as the new site have argued this option would provide the largest footprint for new amenities — approximately 45,000 square feet.

The original 25,000-square-foot Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA first opened in 1961 after being built for roughly $105,000. It was made possible through grassroots fundraising efforts and a $42,500 from the Warner family.

Momentum in the push for a new location ramped up in January 2021, as Patch previously reported, when the Tuscaloosa City Council approved a $1.5 million deal to purchase both the downtown YMCA location and the Benjamin Barnes Branch.

The city already owned the land and following the purchase of the facilities, committed to one provision requiring a new Benjamin Barnes facility be built, or at least 75% completed, before any new construction is done at the downtown Tuscaloosa branch.

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