Have you ever wondered what actually happens inside the Y during our annual summer refresh? Well, wonder no more! Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what’s been happening during our summer refresh this year.
While a temporary closure can be an inconvenience, these shutdown periods are an important part of how we care for our facility. We use this time to tackle projects that simply aren’t possible when we’re welcoming thousands of members through our doors every week.
And this year? A lot has already been accomplished.
Childcare Center Refresh
Our Childcare spaces have been a primary area of focus during the first week of refresh. We wanted to make sure it was done and ready to welcome our students for the 2026/2027 school year!
Our teams have been deep cleaning, painting, scraping, rearranging furniture and fixtures, and making improvements throughout the spaces. Appliances were upgraded, and one of our toddler rooms was brightened up with new flooring and carpet.
These aren’t always flashy projects, but they’re the kinds of improvements that make our spaces cleaner, more functional and more welcoming for the children and families who use them every day.
Mission accomplished – commence the new school year!
Giving the Parking Lot a Refresh, Too
You may have already noticed one of the most visible improvements: our parking lot has been resealed and restriped.
Along with the new pavement markings, we’ve made some changes to the traffic pattern and added a dedicated drop-off lane to help keep traffic moving and the fire lane clear.
And, as you’ve probably noticed, our parking lot speed limit is now 5 MPH. Please help us keep everyone safe by taking it slow as you come and go!
What Happens When We Turn Off the Power?
One of the biggest advantages of a shutdown is being able to perform maintenance that simply can’t happen while the building is operating normally.
On the first Friday of our shutdown period this year while the facility was closed, we were able to power-down the entire building, during which time our team was able to inspect and perform preventive maintenance on critical parts of our electrical system.
Preventive maintenance gives us an opportunity to identify problems before they become bigger problems. Our electrical panels and main electrical distribution equipment were also inspected, cleaned and checked to make sure connections were secure and everything was operating as it should.
It’s not the kind of work you’ll notice when you walk into the Y. But that’s the point. We want the systems behind the scenes to be working safely and reliably.
And Then There Is the Cleaning…
If you’ve been around the Y during refresh, you may have noticed our housekeeping team seemingly everywhere.
They’ve been deep cleaning, pressure washing, scrubbing locker rooms, high dusting, and tackling all of those hard-to-reach places that are difficult to get to during normal operations.
And they’ve been washing windows. Lots of windows.
Some of these are high and difficult to reach, so our team invested in the proper tools and equipment to safely clean them.
It’s amazing what a difference clean windows can make!
A Big Thank You to the Team Behind the Refresh
We’d be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to recognize the people who make all of this possible.
Our Facilities and Housekeeping teams are absolute rockstars.
Much of their work happens behind the scenes, and a lot of it isn’t particularly glamorous. But they have spent this shutdown cleaning, repairing, maintaining, moving, scrubbing, inspecting and improving virtually every corner of our building.
They’ve put in a tremendous amount of effort, and they’ve done it with a level of care and enthusiasm that deserves to be recognized.
We’ve even had members and staff passing by, waving and giving our housekeeping team a thumbs-up as they’ve worked their way around the building. Those little moments of appreciation mean a lot.
So, to our Facilities and Housekeeping teams: thank you. Your work makes a difference every single day, and this week especially, you’ve gone above and beyond to help make the Y clean, safe, well-maintained and welcoming for everyone who walks through our doors.
And We’re Just Getting Started
The first week of refresh was busy, but there’s still plenty more to come.
During Week 2, we’ll be tackling major projects in the Aquatics Center, including extensive duct cleaning; refinishing the basketball court and studio floors; continuing our fire alarm testing and inspections; and taking on even more painting, cleaning, high dusting and other facility improvements.
We’ll give you another behind-the-scenes look next week at everything that happened during the second half of our summer refresh, and, more importantly, what you’ll be able to see and experience when you return.
We appreciate your patience as parts of the facility are closed this week. You’ll find the closure schedule here.
Stay tuned for Part 2!