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NBC 5'S LIZ STRZEPA GIVES US THE TOUR IN THIS STORY NEW TONIGHT AT 6. THE FIRST OF THE YEAR.... GIVING PEOPLE A FIRST CHANCE TO SEE WHAT THEY'VE WAITED YEARS FOR. <21:20 LOOK AT PEOPLE WALKING IN THE BUILDING! THEYRE BEAMING! > IT'S A NEW BEGINNING... <05:44:18 YOU ALWAYS KIN OF WONDER IF WE BUILD IT WILL THEY COME? AND ITS JUST SO GRATIFYING TO SEE PEOPLE COME> <41:08;17 WELL I THINK THE NEW BUILDING IS WONDERFUL> <NATS / BAND PLAYING > THE GREATER BURLINGTON NEW YMCA IS READY TO OPEN! <03:07:00 LOOK AT HOW JOYOUS PEOPLE ARE! THEYRE LOVING THIS> WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT THE 50-THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT BUILDING. FROM THE OPEN- FLOOR FITNESS CENTER... <08:41:27 WE WANTED TO HAVE BRIGHT, OPEN SPACES. WE WANTED PEOPLE TO HAVE VIEWS. WE ALSO WANTED THEM TO BE SEEN FROM THE STREET> TO THE GYM...WITH ROOM FOR BASKETBALL, VOLLEYBALL AND PICKLEBALL.... <04:35:11 IT DOESN'T ALWAYS HAVE A BOUNCY CASTL IN IT BUT SOMETIMES IT DOES> FITNESS CLASSROOMS, <NATS / > TWO INDOOR POOLS... AND CHILDCARE FACILITIES MAKE UP THE REST OF THE $30 MILLION DOLLAR BUILDING... WHICH WAS BUILD TO BE ENTIRELY HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE. <09:57:23 AT ALL LEVELS THIS BUILDING HAS BEEN CREATED FOR ACCESSIBILITY FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY> THE "NEW" Y REPLACING THE OLD ONE. WHICH WAS SOLD AND WILL BE DEVELOPED INTO A 150 ROOM HOTEL. SET TO OPEN SOMETIME NEXT YEAR. <23:45:25 WE SEE THE Y AS A COMMUNITY NEXUS, A COMMUNITY HUB> IT BELIEVES SO STRONGLY IN THE COMMUNITY... THAT ITS ACTUALLY ááLOWERED ITS MEMBERSHIP RATES <26:12:28 THE KIND OF VOLUME THAT WE'LL GET IN THIS BUILDING CHANGED HOW WE CAN BUDGET AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO BRING PRICES DOWN ANTICIPATING THAT VOLUME WOULD ALLOW US TO STILL DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO FROM A REVENUE STANDPOINT> IT'S ABLE TO HELP TWICE THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE... <12:24 THE COMMUNITY LIFTED US UP AND FINALLY GOT US TO A NEW Y AND IT'S A GREAT THIN

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On New Years Day, people got a first chance to see what they've waited years for."You always kind of wonder, 'If we build it will they come?' It's just so gratifying to see people come," said Rick Blount, with the Greater Burlington YMCA."I think the new building is wonderful," said new YMCA member Frank Geier.The Greater Burlington YMCA's new building on College Street is open."Look at how joyous people are! They're loving this," said Blount.What's not to love about the 50,000-square-foot building? "We wanted to have bright, open spaces. We wanted people to have views. We also wanted them to be seen from the street," said Blount.An open-floor fitness center; a gym with room for basketball, volleyball and pickleball; fitness classrooms; two indoor pools; and child care facilities make up the roughly $30 million building. The new facility is handicap accessible. "This building has been created for accessibility for the whole community," said Blount.The new YMCA is replacing the old one on College Street, which was sold and will be developed into a 150-room hotel set to open sometime next year."We see the (YMCA) as a community nexus, a community hub," said the Greater Burlington YMCA's president, Kyle Dodson.The Greater Burlington YMCA said it believes so strongly in the community that it lowered its membership rates."The kind of volume that we'll get in this building changed how we can budget and so we were able to bring prices down anticipating that volume would allow us to still do what we need to do from a revenue standpoint," said Dodson.The YMCA is able to serve twice the amount of people than it could in its old building."The community lifted us up and finally got us to a new (building) and it's a great thing," said Blount.