Devin Wisham, director of development with the Moultrie YMCA; Rich Gallagher, the Moultrie Y's CEO and director; and Leslie Peretti, executive director of the Main Y, are all smiles as they pose in front of the newly renovated cross-fit room.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — It has been almost a year since the Moultrie YMCA announced an extensive plan to renovate and modernize the Main YMCA building.

At a Renovation Coffee Talk Wednesday, Y CEO and Director Rich Gallagher and Leslie Peretti, executive director of the Main Y, said Phase 1 of the renovation has wrapped up and Phase 2 will kick off Friday.

The upgrades that are planned for Phase 2 include a newly renovated lobby, moving the child watch center from the back to the front, a teen center, and opening up the hallway by placing windows all the way down so people can see inside the gym.

Gallagher described how the work will benefit current and potential members of the Y.

“This is a plan we started over a year and a half ago,” he said. “This is Phase 2 of our plan to get our building renovated and relevant to our community, and we are very excited about this phase of it.

“Renovating this space is really going to help our members plus it is going to help our parents sit in the lobby and watch their kids in the gym,” he said.

Phase 2 of the renovation project has had two significant boosts from the community as the upgrades to the child watch center were paid for by a mini-campaign made by parents of the Y’s cross-fit program who raised $10,000 from a bake sale and through a partnership with Southern Regional Technical College. An entrepreneurial class agreed to design the teen room as part of the new partnership.

One of the most important aspects of Phase 2 according to Gallagher is the Genesis Room for active senior citizens and people who suffer from debilitating diseases.

“This is gonna be the room for Parkinson’s patients, Livestrong patients and just active older adults that want a private workout space,” Gallagher said. “This is something that I think the community will appreciate.”

The Main Y is still expected to operate during its regular hours during the construction process. Staff has mailed and put out on social media that members will simply have to take a different route to get to different areas of the building, but in case things do fill up they have opened up their Pineland gym location.