Tulsa YMCA Getting $21 Million In Improvements

The Tandy Family YMCA in Tulsa is in the middle of a transformation.

It's making progress on a $21 million project, adding a new building and updating the existing one.

The facility near 51st and Yale wants to double its membership, but more importantly, it wants to make the surrounding community a healthier one.

Kyle Wilkes, vice president of mission advancement for YMCA, gave us a tour of the new space.

The biggest new features are the three pools -- a family pool, a therapy pool and a lap pool.

"We also have dedicated lap lanes, four lap lanes,” Wilkes said.

This project, he says, has two important missions -- family friendliness and public health.

"One thing that's real important to us here at the YMCA is we wanna include the entire family," he said.

For instance, the new building has state-of-the-art men's and women's locker rooms but also family changing rooms.

"This area here is gonna be our family changing rooms we're gonna have, so we'll have the opportunity for dads and young daughter or mom and son to be able to come in, that are not suited for an adult environment in the locker rooms,” he said.

The new space, set to open in July, also will house a partnership between YMCA and the University of Oklahoma.

OU will have six full-time staff members running a physical therapy and sports medicine clinic that will be open to the public.

Wilkes says the goal is to keep the community healthy in a casual family setting.

"They want to go somewhere and heal,” Wilkes said. “And at that point in the time, the YMCA can provide that in a non-hospital or non-medical setting, a community setting, where literally Mom can drop their kid off at Play And Learn, husband can go upstairs and work out, and then she can go and see a doctor, or whoever the family may be in need."

The new building is Phase 1 of this project.

Phase 2 will update the current facility, which should wrap up in February.