Bursting at its seams, Eugene Family YMCA planning for a second location

An earlier version of this story omitted the first four paragraphs. They have been added back to the story.

Careful what you ask for, Eugene.

In the 16 months since the Eugene Family YMCA opened its first new campus in almost 70 years on Dec. 18, 2023, membership has tripled.

That means 18,592 people are now card-carrying members of the $49 million state-of-the-art facility at the corner of East 24th Avenue and Hilyard Street. 

What if more than 18,000 people showed up at the facility known as the Don Stathos Campus at once?

“Boy, we would have a lot of frustrated folks,” said CEO Brian Steffen, sitting in his first-floor office in late March. “And two hours from then, you’d have a great time,” he added with a laugh. 

“There’d be a lot of availability.”

Not that all 18,592 members are ever going to show at once. For one, some of those members are part-time Eugene residents; secondly, the most folks the Y’s had come through its doors in a single day was 3,245 who visited April 7, said Beth Casper, the Y’s vice president for community engagement.

Still, when the Y’s at its busiest, between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. (291 members visited during this hour on April 7), getting your favorite elliptical machine, treadmill or swim lane, can be a challenge. But wait a couple of hours, when most of us are sitting down to dinner, and things tend to clear out a bit. 

Maybe.

“Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded,” someone posted on Reddit, the social media forum, back in November. They signed the post, “Yogi Berra,” a nod to the baseball Hall of Famer, famous for his malapropisms and other “Yogisms.”

The early success of Eugene’s first new YMCA since the Patterson Street location less than four blocks away opened in 1955, is a story of generosity, commitment, passion and numbers. 

Big numbers.

From the tripling of membership from 6,018 at the old facility to 18,592 — that’s 1.5 times the size of a sold-out Matthew Knight Arena (capacity, 12,364) and enough to make the Y Lane County’s third-largest city — to its 75,000 square feet, to the nearing of its one millionth member visit sometime this month or early May, nothing feels small at the Eugene Y.

It’s one of the fastest-growing YMCAs in the nation, according to its 2024 Impact Report. 

“I just feel it goes to show that they need to build one in another part of town,” said Nicole Hummel, who joined the Y in January, along with her husband, Gabe Schliffer, and their two children, 6-year-old son Quinn and 3-year-old daughter Ruby.

The first Eugene Family YMCA opened on the University of Oregon campus in 1887, 138 years ago this month, so it’s been a long, long time since Eugene didn’t have a Y. But it’s never had two. That could soon change, though.

Steffen announced to members March 12 that the Y entered into an option agreement with Lane Transit District (LTD) to explore the purchase of a 4.8-acre property at the corner of River Road and Hunsaker Lane, the former site of Santa Clara Elementary School, for $4.05 million.

The agreement is in its “due diligence” period, Steffen said, to conduct environmental assessments, inspections and feasibility studies. The property is on the northern end of LTD property that includes the agency’s Santa Clara Station.

And how much would another new Y building cost? Around $50 million, Steffen told Lookout. That’s right, $1 million more than the current Y, which Steffen said is believed to be the second-most expensive YMCA ever built in the U.S. after one built in recent years in New York City. (Architect magazine reports the Northeast Bronx YMCA, opened in 2021, as costing $51 million.)

Steffen envisions around a 65,000-square foot building, roughly the same size as the Stathos Campus, but without the 10,000 square feet of offices.

A funding model similar to the one that raised $49 million over nine years for the Stathos Campus — $32 million of which was from individuals and foundations, $15 million from state funding and $2 million from federal funding — would pay for another new campus, Steffen said.

He would expect the project to take six to seven years and possibly include major national philanthropists who have worked on other YMCA capital campaigns around the country.

“It’s clearly so in demand and so busy,” Steffen said of the Stathos Campus. “We need to expand into other opportunities.”

And that brings us back to the numbers. 

While parking could get difficult at the old Y on Patterson — members jockeyed for the few spots in one small lot or parked on the street or across Patterson at South Eugene High School — Y staff figured 275 spots at the new Y would be more than enough.

But parking can be tight with an average of 2,000 members coming through the doors on any given day and more than 3,000 on some days.

“I just think if I park far away, I’m getting more exercise,” joked member Jeremy Smith, in between workouts at the Y’s second-floor health and wellness center.

Some members park in the lot at Roosevelt Middle School next door, but Steffen said the Y tries to discourage that, while encouraging members to walk, bike (there are spots for 90 bikes) or take the bus. The Y rents 25 parking spots from the Very Little Theatre, across 24th Avenue, so staff can park there, he added.

Parking, along with just general crowdedness and the inability to access one’s favorite workout machine during certain times, has indeed led to frustration for some.

“I literally drove around the parking lot for 34 minutes before giving up,” someone posted in that same November Reddit forum. 

“Retirement crowd keeps that place mobbed,” posted someone else. “I love that our community has this amazing and vibrant YMCA, but it’s essentially always packed. It’s very difficult to actually work out there. It’s more of a social club.”

Posted another: “I was there an hour ago and it was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. I can usually find a parking spot with no effort but it was chaotic and hard today. It really depends on what time of day you go.”

Steffen put out a newsletter in November to address “growing concerns” around “high demand.”

He mentioned an increase in negative and verbally abusive interactions aimed at staff. 

“We expect members to show up in the same ways staff do — by following our core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility,” he wrote.

Steffen attributes frustrations to the “learning curve” for members and staff in a new facility with 12,000 new members who came seemingly overnight. 

“We weren’t surprised by any of the concerns, considering how busy it was, but it was a great chance for us to try and clarify our message around, ‘We’re all learning a lot during this first year and we’re all just having some patience with one another.’”

After the 4-5 p.m. slot, the Y’s second busiest time is 8-9 a.m., followed by 5-6 p.m. The slowest time, measured before the Y expanded its weekday hours to 9:30 p.m., was 8-9 p.m.

“I don’t like going earlier, but I would go between 9 and 10 (a.m.) and I couldn’t find parking,” longtime member Ted Donahue said. “It was just too much.”

Now, he goes no later than 8 a.m., said Donahue, 63, who retired from a Eugene nonprofit after 27 years. He spends a couple of hours daily on cardio machines, weights and stretching.

Steffen received lots of feedback on how to deal with the Y’s “extraordinary growth,” from expanding hours to capping membership to significantly raising membership fees.

Expanding hours already happened, effective Jan. 2. The Y now opens a half-hour earlier, at 5 a.m., and closes a half-hour later, at 9:30 p.m. during weekdays, and opens an hour earlier (6 a.m.) on weekends and Saturdays, it closes an hour later (8 p.m.)

That led to some days with more than 3,000 members coming through the doors, including that April 7 record.  The busiest and slowest time periods for people to check in that day: 

• 291 – 4-5 p.m.
• 263 – 10-11 a.m.
• 259 – 5-6 p.m.
• 73 – 8-9 p.m.
• 10 – 9-9:30 p.m.

As for capping membership or skyrocketing membership rates, Steffen said that’s not happening.

“Both of those aren’t aligned to our approach,” Steffen said. “It wouldn’t help the Y meet the health, education and social needs of our community.

“We need to rise to this moment as YMCA leaders by not seeking to throttle the number of people who can access the Y, but by rather seeking to expand the Y’s facilities so that we can join the community in meeting their health, education and social needs,” Steffen added.

The answer to high membership numbers and crowdedness is to build more YMCAs, Steffen said. Some cities have multiple locations, such as four in Boise, Idaho. Spokane, Washington, has five.

A YMCA is much more than a fitness center, Steffen reminded. 

It’s a community focused not just on staying in shape but on improving members’ mental, emotional and overall health. The Y has programs on diabetes prevention, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s classes along with plenty of classes and camps for youth and  drop-in childcare.

For Hummel, joining the Y has been a godsend for her and her family. 

“It’s gotten us through a pretty challenging time,” she said. Their house in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood caught fire in November, destroying much of the first floor. They joined the Y after renting a house in south Eugene while their home is rebuilt. 

The Y’s drop-in childcare allows Hummel to take about five fitness classes (free to members) a week. Her husband uses the tennis center on Patterson. 

A family membership with access to tennis and pickleball courts at the tennis center on Patterson is $185 per month. 

After slight rate increases last October, monthly memberships cost $74, adults (27-61); $53, young adults (18-26) and seniors (62+); $32, youth (11-17). Access to the tennis center costs more.

The Y provides about $150,000 a month in financial assistance and discounts for programs and services. About 40 percent of members have insurance plans that pay for their membership, Steffen said.

“It’s obvious this is a really appealing membership for so many people in Eugene,” Hummel said.

Families and retired folks make up a good chunk of the Y’s membership, Steffen said. 

“I’m really excited about the Y,” said Gordon Kadar, 72, during a recent workout on the second floor. “This is my favorite place to be, besides home.”

Membership fees for about 40 % of Y members are covered by health insurance plans, Steffen said, and that group includes Kadar.

But he donates $160 a month to support the place, he said.

Told he doesn’t look 72, the lean and ponytailed Kadar said, “Because of this place, I’m getting younger. If you’d have asked me last year, I’d have said 73.”