- September 7, 2024
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Palm Coast has identified two possible locations for a new YMCA, both in Town Center.
Mayor David Alfin told the Observer a group of stakeholders — including the city of Palm Coast, Volusia Flagler Family YMCA CEO Chris Seilkop and Town Center land owners — has been formed to discuss potential locations, and all agreed on Town Center as an ideal location.
A central location like Town Center would help make access to amenities as easy as possible for residents, Alfin said. The next question, he said, is what other amenities should be near the Y.
"This is going to be a full-blown amenity YMCA center," Alfin said. "A Y is so integral to the community that it shouldn't be an oasis."
The group of stakeholders formed because Alfin and council member Theresa Carli Pontieri at an Aug. 8 council workshop asked to add a request for funding for a Palm Coast YMCA to a list of state appropriations requests the city is compiling.
In August, the YMCA announced that it had received $5 million in appropriations funding, $1 million of which would go into site planning for a Flagler County location. Seilkop told the Observer in an August interview that building a new, 25,000-square-foot Y could cost $6 million.
Alfin said the city already has a precedent for success, citing the almost $55 million in state appropriations funding the city received last June.
He said he is "in close communication" with local legislators in the region — including Volusia County's Rep. Tom Leek and Flagler County's Sen. Travis Hutson and House Speaker Paul Renner — to get the YMCA project done.
"We have an issue here locally," Alfin said. "Folks are not getting the service they deserve."
