ATLANTA — An Atlanta institution that has been molding and mentoring children for close to 70 years just got a $10 million makeover.
Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen was at the Andrew & Walter Young YMCA, one of the city’s oldest YMCAs, where the facility has been made new again to honor one of its favorite sons.
Along Campbellton Road in Southwest Atlanta, the Andrew & Walter Young YMCA has helped raise the kids right for 66 years.
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At Monday’s ceremony, former Atlanta Mayor and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young spoke about its importance.
“I grew up in the YMCA,” Young said. “I think since I was in the YMCA, since I was five years old.”
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That’s close to nine decades for the former ambassador, the last few of them, right here.
At the Andrew & Walter Young Family YMCA, renamed in their honor in 2007, this year saw a $10 million renovation.
That meant the site got a gymnasium upgrade, a brand new wellness center, new classrooms, locker rooms and more.
At the YMCA, children learn to swim, as well as how to be responsible and fulfill leadership roles.
Young said without a place like the YMCA, he wouldn’t be where he is today.
“It’s institutions like the Y that start with them when they’re three or four years old and bring them right on up the line,” he said.
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