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Archive for November, 2012

Family Y Welcomes Members Back After Month Closure (with photos)

Friday, November 30, 2012 by:Family Y
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Longtime Y Member Ron Melino was the first through the doors on Friday, just before noon.

After a month-long closure to make repairs from extensive flood damage caused by Superstorm Sandy, the Westport Weston Family Y re-opened its doors on Friday, Nov. 30 at noon to Y Members and the community.

Some parts of the facility and programs remain temporarily out of service, and are detailed here.

“I am very proud of the work our staff and contracting partners have done to get us to this point,” said CEO Rob Reeves. “It’s been four weeks of cleaning up, drying out and undertaking the many complex tasks involved with getting our facility back in working order.

“Superstorm Sandy may have knocked us out of action for a while, but we’re happy to be able to once again serve our 5,500 Members and entire community, even if it means starting on a limited basis at first.”

Enjoy this slide show of photos taken on Friday, as we welcomed members back to our Family Y.

Family Y to Re-Open Friday, Nov. 30 at 12 Noon

Thursday, November 29, 2012 by:Family Y
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The Family Y Member Services Desk will be back in business starting Friday, Nov. 30 at noon.

The Westport Weston Family Y has wonderful news to share: Late Thursday we received a temporary Certificate of Occupancy from town officials, which will allow us to resume operations on a limited basis, starting Friday, Nov. 30, at 12 noon.

The Family Y will resume operations utilizing two external generators to supply power to the facility. The program space and services that will be available to Y Members starting on Friday include:

  • All locker rooms
  • Stauffer Pool
  • Upper Level of the Fitness Center
  • Upper Gym
  • Racquet Courts
  • Gymnastic Center
  • Dance Center Studio
  • Spinning Room
  • Bedford Room

Current schedules of Family Y classes and programs taking place at the Y during this period of limited service may be found at www.westporty.org.

The lower level of the Fitness Center, where our exercise machines and free weights are located, will remain shut until early next week. Some of the machines will have to be moved in order to completely dry the flooring under the rubber mats.

The shallow, warm-water Brophy Pool was refilled on Tuesday and a new heater connection is being established. It’s expected to re-open later next week.

The Family Y’s Child Care Center is in the process of being completely renovated.

No date has been set for re-opening the Child Care Center, but Family Y officials are optimistic that repairs will be complete by the end of next week, at which time the Y will seek approval for the proper permits necessary to resume providing child care services.

The Family Y’s Infant/Toddler Rooms (upstairs only) will be ready to open on Monday.

The Family Y will continue to operate using temporary power until repairs to the facility’s main electric switch gear can be completed and the appropriate steps undertaken to reconnect the system to the municipal power grid. This process may involve a temporary closure of the Y during operational hours; if so, we will strive to alert members about the timing and duration of this short-term closure beforehand.

Giving Thanks — and Throwing a Party!

The Family Y expresses its gratitude not only to the many contractors who have helped us recover from Superstorm Sandy, but also to the area facilities that welcomed Y members and hosted numerous classes and programs during our hiatus. Those facilities include the neighboring YMCAs of Norwalk, Wilton, New Canaan, Darien and Fairfield, as well as Wakeman Boys & Girls Club in Southport, Intensity in Norwalk, Fairfield Country Day School, Christ & Holy Trinity Church, Westport Center for Senior Activities and Staples High School.

To celebrate our re-opening, the Family Y has scheduled a “Welcome Back!” party on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 7-8:30 pm, in the Branson Hall of Christ & Holy Trinity Church, 75 Church Lane. Y members, staff and supporters are invited to bring “potluck dessert” and join the festivities. For details, please click here.

“I am very proud of the work our staff and contracting partners have done to get us to this point,” said CEO Rob Reeves. “It’s been four weeks of cleaning up, drying out and undertaking the many complex tasks involved with getting our facility back in working order.

“Superstorm Sandy may have knocked us out of action for a while, but we’re happy to be able to once again serve our 5,500 Members and entire community, even if it means starting on a limited basis at first.”

Said Pat Costanzo, our tireless senior director of facilities and property management, late Thursday afternoon:”I’m going to sleep good tonight.”

We thank you, Pat, for all your efforts over this past month.

Membership Credit Options

Allow us to repeat the following important membership information from our previous update:

Here is a pdf of a notice we are mailing to all Family Y Members that outlines credit options covering the period from our closure on Oct. 29 through our re-opening. Please let us know if you would like to make any of the choices offered by following the instructions provided in the letter.

If you have a specific question or would like to volunteer your support, please contact Rob Reeves directly, via rreeves@westporty.org or 203-226-8981, ext. 131.

Latest Progress Report About the Family Y

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 by:Family Y
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Aquatic Director Nicole Turechek checks the water temperature of the Stauffer Pool on Tuesday.

Our month-long effort to re-open our Family Y and to resume operations is nearly complete. We are now working with town officials to secure the necessary permits that will allow us to welcome our Members and the public back into our building.

We will announce via email, our website and other media as soon as these approvals are granted (or what further repairs may be required) and the specific day and time we will be able to open our doors once again.

The program space and services that we expect to be available to Y Members upon our re-opening include:

  • All locker rooms
  • Upper Level of the Fitness Center
  • Upper Gym
  • Racquet Courts
  • Gymnastic Center
  • Dance Center Studio
  • Spinning Room
  • Bedford and Bresslin Rooms

Schedules of Family Y classes and programs that will take place at the Y during this period of limited service, and at alternate sites as need be, may be found on our homepage.

The Stauffer Pool will remain closed while a new heater, installed on Tuesday, brings the water temperature up to an acceptable level. That process is expected to take several more days.

The shallow Brophy Pool was refilled on Tuesday. Heating it will require a new connection to be made to the boiler in the Bedford Building, and once that task is complete, the Y will announce a date for re-opening.

The lower level of the Fitness Center, where our exercise machines and free weights are located, will remain shut for the time being. Some of the machines will have to be moved in order to completely dry the flooring under the rubber mats.

The Family Y’s Child Care Center is in the process of being completely renovated.

“Since a group of Y leaders gathered in the cold, dark lobby of the Bedford Building on Oct. 30 to assess the damage, our highest priority has been to return our kids to their classrooms as soon as possible,” said Rob Reeves, Family Y CEO. “We considered using temporary spaces here at the Y, but realized that the best and quickest way to resume operations was to focus on rebuilding our rooms downstairs.”

No date has been set for re-opening the Child Care Center, but Family Y officials are optimistic that repairs will be complete by the end of next week.

The Family Y will continue to operate using temporary power until repairs to the facility’s main electric switch gear can be completed and the appropriate steps undertaken to reconnect the system to the municipal power grid.

Membership Credit Options

Allow us to repeat the following important membership information from our previous update:

Here is a pdf of a notice we are mailing to all Family Y Members that outlines credit options covering the period from our closure on Oct. 29 through our re-opening. Please let us know if you would like to make any of the choices offered by following the instructions provided in the letter.

If you have a specific question or would like to volunteer your support, please contact Rob Reeves directly, via rreeves@westporty.org or 203-226-8981, ext. 131.

Downtown Festivities Mark the Season of Giving on Thursday

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 by:Family Y
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Ice sculpting at last year's Celebration of Giving at Christ & Holy Trinity Church.

A fun holiday tradition for local families kicks off at 5 pm on Thursday, Nov. 29, with the lighting of the Christmas tree at Westport’s Town Hall.

After the tree lighting ceremony, the Westport Historical Society will offer complimentary refreshments on its porch overlooking Veterans Green.

For many local families, the festivities continue after a short stroll over to Christ & Holy Trinity Church. From 5:30 to 7:30 pm, the church’s new Branson Hall will be filled with local nonprofit organizations, including our Family Y. You will have the opportunity to make a donation and add an ornament to the holiday tree.

Sponsored by the Downtown Merchants Association, the occasion also features music by Chris Coogan and the Staples Orphenians, an ice sculpture demonstration outside, food from Oscar’s and Bobby Q’s, special holiday cheer from Purple Feet and Blue Lemon and other refreshments, a blazing fire pit from Gault Energy and a visit from Santa.

Families are invited to fill out a holiday donation card in honor of the local charity of their choice.

Family Y Closes In On Re-Opening (with Photos)

Monday, November 26, 2012 by:Family Y
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For now, service trucks and vans hold sway on Church Lane, instead of the usual SUVs and minivans.

As the Family Y continues to bring key electrical, mechanical and life-safety systems back online, we’re optimistic to be able to resume serving members within the next few days. We will happily spread the word of the specific date of our re-opening as soon as we can.

In the meantime, Y staff and coaches continue to arrange for practice sessions and other programs to take place at altnerate sites. Here’s the early-week schedule for the Water Rat swim team as well as practice times over the new few days for our Competition Gymnastic Team and Travel Basketball teams.

For a view of how our Y’s efforts to re-open are coming together, please click through the gallery below of photos taken Monday, Nov. 26.

Family Y Nears Final Steps Necessary to Resume Operations

Saturday, November 24, 2012 by:Family Y
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After nearly a month of undertaking a complex sequence of remediation and repair due to flooding, the Westport Weston Family Y is nearly ready to re-open on a limited basis. Once again, we thank you for your patience and understanding as we strive to put our beloved but aged downtown facility back in working order. And special thanks to the many Family Y members who have so graciously offered to donate their membership credit during our closure toward helping us continue our mission of service to those in need.

As the week begins, we expect to be ready to test key mechanical, electrical and life-safety systems. If all goes well, we will then be in position to request inspections by the Fire Department and Town in order to receive a new Certificate of Occupancy (CO), allowing us to re-open our doors.

As mentioned previously when we are able to give you an exact date of our re-opening, and the services we will be able to provide at that time, we will let you know as soon as possible via email, on westporty.org and other media.

Status of Repairs
Pat Costanzo and his team of Y staffers and outside contractors have worked through the holiday weekend to accomplish the following:

  • The boiler that supplies heat to the Bedford Building is now operational.
  • The new heater for the Stauffer Pool is expected to be operational this weekend. Once back in service, it should be able to raise the water temperature from the current low 60s by about two degrees per day. The regular temperature is 81 degrees.
  • The Weeks Pavilion, which houses our pools, gymnastics center, racquet courts and locker rooms, now has heat and hot water.
  • The entire facility continues to run on temporary power. We will continue to have to rely on temporary power until we finish reinstalling the rebuilt electric switch gear and can have it inspected and certified.
  • The Child Care Center in the lower level of the Bedford Building, inundated by five feet of water, has been dried. Renovations began this weekend and will continue as a high priority until completed. (Our Y Child Care families will receive a separate, more detailed update.)
  • Repairs to the smoke detection, sprinkler and fire-alarm systems are nearly complete and will be tested early this coming week.

Classes & Programs
Please be aware that upon our re-opening, the lower level of the Fitness Center, where our free weights and workout machines are located, will remain closed. Water that seeped under the floor mats will require some of this heavy gear to be moved so that we can completely dry the area.

With some fitness/dance studios and spaces likely to be unavailable for regular programming, please consult our website upon our re-opening for the current schedules of classes and programs. Also, please be aware that the Brophy Pool will remain closed temporarily, after the Stauffer Pool re-opens. The current Pool schedule will also be posted on our homepage as our re-opening plans are finalized.

Membership Credit Options
Allow us to repeat the following important membership information from our previous update:

Here is a pdf of a notice we are mailing to all Family Y Members that outlines credit options covering the period from our closure on Oct. 29 through our re-opening. Please let us know if you would like to make any of the choices offered by following the instructions provided in the letter.

If you have a specific question or would like to volunteer your support, please contact Rob Reeves directly, via rreeves@westporty.org or 203-226-8981, ext. 131.

Support the Y
To support our Family Y’s efforts to rebuild as well as to continue to help us provide financial assistance so that local families in need have access to our programs and services, please click here to access our online donation form, or contact Paul Bernetsky, Chief Development Officer, at 203-226-8981, ext. 115 or pbernetsky@westporty.org. (Use the Comment box to give us specific information about processing your gift. We thank you.)

More information about our Family Y, including photos, may be found at www.westporty.org as well as the Y’s Facebook page.

A Thanksgiving Update from the Family Y

Tuesday, November 20, 2012 by:Family Y
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From all of us at the Family Y, we wish you and your family the happiest of Thanksgiving holidays. We also offer our most sincere thanks for your continued patience and understanding. Despite our current travails — or maybe because of them — we count our blessings and treasure all that we have, and what we hope to soon regain.

We are continuing to put the pieces of the intricate puzzle that is our Family Y back in place. If all goes well, we are hopeful that we will be able to safely resume limited operations sometime next week.

When we are able to give you an exact date of our re-opening, and the services we will be able to provide at that time, we will let you know as soon as possible via email, on westporty.org and other media.

Craig Pietrowicz, an employee of Northeast Generator in Bridgeport, looks at the damaged gym floor. Photo courtesy of Connecticut Post.

We are truly sorry for the disruption and inconvenience our temporary closure has caused our members and the community. As you may have read on the front page of the Connecticut Post this weekend, our Family Y is just one of the buildings in downtown Westport that remain closed due to damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.

Status of Repairs

Progress continues, though not without hurdles — most of them due to the age of our facility and of the antiquated systems that run it.

A second external generator is now online and supplying power to more of our facility, allowing the workers to proceed with the difficult task of repairing, reinstalling and then testing critical parts. However, this temporary hookup necessitated additional repairs: the electrical feed from the panel to our hot-water system needed to be completely rewired.

Pat Costanzo, our senior director of Property and Facilities Management, continues to orchestrate the various teams at work throughout the building. Among the specific tasks at hand:
  • The replacement parts for the boiler that heats the Bedford Building have been installed. We expect to fire it up today (Tuesday) and check it for operational safety.
  • The new heater for the Stauffer Pool will be installed this week. Once it’s operational, we will be able to proceed with the days-long task of bringing the now-chilled water back up to a tolerable temperature.
  • A phalanx of blowers, fans and heaters continue to dry the Child Care Center, which was inundated by water. When that task is complete, we will begin rebuilding that space. (For a more detailed update about our Child Care Center, including an account of the various offers of support to help rebuild it, please click here.)
  • Repairs to the sprinkler and fire-alarm systems are ongoing and once they are completed and heat and hot water are restored, we will be able to bring the inspectors in to re-certify the facility for use by our Members, staff and community.
Classes & Programs

As we strive to resume operations, we encourage Y Members to continue utilizing other area YMCAs through the “Always Welcome at the Y” AWAY reciprocal program.

Also, please check our home page for the current list of classes & programs taking place at alternate sites.

Membership Credit Options

Allow us to repeat the following important membership information from our previous update:

Here is a pdf of a notice we are mailing to all Family Y Members that outlines credit options covering the period from our closure on Oct. 29 through our re-opening. Please let us know if you would like to make any of the choices offered by following the instructions provided in the letter.

If you have a specific question or would like to volunteer your support, please contact Rob Reeves directly, via rreeves@westporty.org or 203-226-8981, ext. 131. Note: Family Y email will not be available Tuesday evening through Wed., 9 am. We need to take the servers down as part of the electrical panel testing.

To view a brief video about our efforts to “Re-Build What Matters,” please click on the image below.

Support the Y

To support our Family Y’s efforts to rebuild as well as to continue to help us provide financial assistance so that local families in need have access to our programs and services, please click here to access our online donation form, or contact Paul Bernetsky, Chief Development Officer, at 203-226-8981, ext. 115 or pbernetsky@westporty.org. (Use the Comment box to give us specific information about processing your gift. We thank you.)

More information about our Family Y, including photos, may be found at www.westporty.org as well as the Y’s Facebook page

The Family Y, a Vital Part of Daily Life That Is Sorely Missed

Monday, November 19, 2012 by:Family Y
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The Family Y Member Services Desk is still silent, but efforts are well under way to restore power and other essential services to allow the Y to re-open on at least a limited basis.

Midge’s Membership Blog

For the past three weeks, I have had a lot of time on my hands with the Y being closed.  No reason to set my clock for 6:00 am and lay out my YMCA shirt and no chance to take up my daily position behind our Member Services Desk, to check in, and check up with, all my Y members and friends.

I have had a surplus of time to think about all the things I could be, should be, would be doing with all this unwanted time and I can think of nothing else but when will the Y open so I can be ‘myself’ again?!

I know so many of Y members feel the same way I do.  Our Family Y is such a mainstay for so many of us in the community, a precise destination on our daily schedules –right up there with brushing one’s teeth, getting dressed and eating breakfast.

It is the place you go after your kids are safely on the bus for school or after you catch up on your emails or before lunch with friends or in between shopping and cooking dinner or before bedtime or any ole time at all.  For some of us it is an extended day trip with classes, workout, swim, sauna, shower; for others it’s a quick, “get-down-to-business” workout squeezed in before or after work.

For so many, staff and members alike, the Family Y is a vital part of our everyday life and it is sorely missed! We hope to see you soon, and please check www.westporty.org for the latest updates about our efforts to re-open.

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