Demolition marks new era for YWCA

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Alpine Construction Crews tear down the Gymnasium of the old YWCA building on the 200 block of River Street in Aurora on Wednesday, December 22, 2010. | Brian Powers~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: April 19, 2011 5:31AM

AURORA — Although the marquee still read “the Malcolm and Lydia Jones YWCA” at 201 N. River St., the gym lay in piles of insulation, steel and rubble Wednesday morning as a crane dismantled the former home of the Aurora YWCA.

Abby Schuler, chairman of the YWCA board, knew the city was planning to demolish the building soon, since she’s also an Aurora alderman. But she didn’t know the building was coming down on Wednesday, she said.

“I’ll have to go down that way and see it. It’s a piece of history,” Schuler said. “In the next few days it will be flatlands.”

The city demolition on the former YWCA site is the first step toward creating a parking lot at the location that city officials hope will solve parking woes in downtown Aurora, especially as the new downtown Waubonsee Community College campus opens. The city bought the 7.6-acre site for $6 million, to be paid over four years.

The demolition also marks a time of transition for the YWCA itself. The YW has moved into the Fred Rodgers Community Center on the near East Side, after selling the River Street building to the city last summer.

A larger parking strategy has been in the works for years, said the city’s public information coordinator, Kevin Stahr. Parking lot construction is expected to start in spring 2011, and the first spots will open that summer.

The demolition should take six weeks and cost $148,000, according to Stahr.

The lot is expected to have room for 646 to 732 parking spaces and serve as a temporary parking solution for students.

“There hasn’t been a final parking space determination yet,” Stahr said. “The city is going to construct the lot in phases that will ultimately be based on demand.”

Waubonsee has agreed to pay a portion of the cost, Stahr said, but a total amount has not been determined. The college previously agreed to eliminate reduced-rate student parking at the Stolp Avenue garage.

As the plan stands, students will be able to park for free in the North River Street lot, giving them an added incentive to park there.

According to Stahr, the city’s long-term plan is to construct a parking deck downtown and sell the former YWCA lot to a developer as the economy improves.

Although Hollywood Casino has shown interest in the YWCA lot since the 1990s and made an offer to buy the property in spring 2009, the plan ultimately failed.

Stahr said the city does consider a future casino hotel and convention center on the property an option, but it also has seen interest from other developers.

Time of change at YWCA

Naperville resident Linda Ireland was appointed as the new executive director of the Aurora YWCA this month, and the organization moved into the Fred Rodgers Community Center earlier this year.

The River Street building was too large for the YWCA’s current Y’s needs, Schuler said. The agency closed down its pool in 2006, and the workout facility wasn’t as busy as it had been. In May, the YWCA decided to discontinue its child development program, citing declines in enrollment.

“We’re really working on assessing the need in this area; we’re not trying to repeat (any services),” Ireland said last week. “We want to fill a void.”

Schuler said the organization is still deciding about future building plans while leasing for a year at the Rodgers Community Center.

“I think we feel very comfortable (at the Community Center) with other non-profits, but it’s still a decision that needs to be made,” she said.

The YWCA is now considering doubling the amount of space in the Rodgers Center to house volunteers and interns. The YWCA now takes up about 500 square feet in the building, Schuler said.

Schuler said the organization plans to focus on taking programming into the community, rather than hosting programs in-house.

“We downsized our building and now we’re in an office-type setting, and I think that really seems to be working for us,” Schuler said. “We didn’t need the space.”

The Aurora YWCA, founded in 1893, built its first facility at 31 W. Downer Place in 1911. It moved into the River Street location in 1985. The fitness center was added in 1992 and the child care center in 1997.