Tuscaloosa Council Votes On New Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA Location

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa City Council on Tuesday voted 5-2 to select the McDonald Hughes Community Center as the site for a new facility for the Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA in the city's West End.

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As Patch reported last week, consultants recommended building the new location on the campus of the McDonald Hughes Center, which has been met with mixed reactions, particularly from residents who worry about the loss of historical context and the potential duplication of services at the new location.

District 1's Matthew Wilson and District 3's Norman Crow opposed the site when votes were cast.

COMMUNITY CONCERNS

Former Tuscaloosa NAACP Branch President Jerry Carter also spoke during Tuesday's meeting, pointing out that the Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA is the best of what District 1 has in the West End. Separate from that, he pointed out the district only has the Tuscaloosa County Jail and a concrete plant.

Indeed, the respected community advocate explained that more meals are served at the jail than any restaurant or business in District 1.

"Why not leave something positive?" he asked of the current location in District 1. "The Y is all we have other than our schools."

Here's a look at the proposed sites:

• Pecan Grove
• Stillman Heights Elementary
• Dragons Lane
• The existing site
• The McDonald Hughes Community Center.

City leaders in support of McDonald Hughes as the new site argued this option would provide the largest footprint — 45,000 square feet — in addition to the city being able to make the most of its $10 million budget and bond issuance by building the new location on the site of a community center that already offers a wide-range of amenities.

Opened in 1961, the original 25,000-square-foot Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA was built for roughly $105,000 and made possible through $42,500 in funding from the Warner family.

Criticism of the McDonald Hughes location can be found in the worries over the duplication of services, lack of community input, the loss of historical context, and the possibility that the current Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA would no longer be accessible to those in Tuscaloosa's West End.

Que Chandler, a resident of 41st Avenue and a vocal community activist, cited census data in saying close to 1,300 children live in the census tracts that are in the immediate vicinity of the current Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA. Of those, Chandler insisted roughly 1,000 live close enough to walk.

"I want you to imagine how frustrating it is for District 1's children and youth to discover that this administration is more interested in building a facility that can draw in tourism than restoring a historic facility in their own community that has served the youth since the 1950s," she said.

Following comments from those opposed to the move, Wilson made a failed motion to once again table the vote on the site selection. He also railed against the move, presenting his arguments against what he views will ultimately be lost if the city moves forward with the decision.

"I'm not here to talk against District 2, but I am here to advocate for my people," Wilson said. "It is possible that the McDonald Hughes site is probably the best site. However, the best site might not be the best site for people ... I want you all to know today that however this vote goes, I want my district to know that we did our best. And I want you to know that I'm going to work with whatever happens here tonight, because that's my job — to speak for people who can't speak for themselves."

Tuscaloosa County YMCA CEO Jeff Knox and others from the YMCA mentioned that a two-hour meeting with the board and Chambless King Architects was held Tuesday, resulting in a vote from the Board of Directors in favor of the proposed McDonald Hughes location.

"I'm not disagreeing with anything you said," Knox said in response to Wilson. "What is the next step? Where is the best opportunity? From what I've seen this is it and that's what our board agreed to today."

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