YMCA to be Built in Toledo

Toledo has been earmarked as the future home of a YMCA.

The Neal Center YMCA, a branch of Mattoon Area Famly YMCA, will be built on the northeast corner of the Courthouse Square in downtown Toledo. Mattoon YMCA CEO Blake Fairchild said the Toledo facility will be 33,000 square feet in capacity. The two-story structure will feature an indoor pool, a gym and a half, an elevated walking and jogging track (13 laps will make a mile), fitness areas, a wellness center, a child watch room, a youth room and a lobby area.

Fairchild said the project is the brainchild of the late Burnham Neal, who had formed a group of citizens to brainstorm the project prior to his death in 2012. Neal, a Toledo native, owned Neal Tire and Auto Service and has benefited a number of endeavors in the region through the Neal Foundation. The group of citizens behind the project is known as Neal Center Incorporated. The group reached out to Fairchild and the Mattoon Y for input, leading to the decision to seek YMCA status. Fairchild said the paperwork to become a Y is already completed and approved. Under the arrangement, Neal Center YMCA and Mattoon YMCA members will be able to use each other's facilities.

The design of the Neal Center YMCA is targeted to compliment other facilities completed or renovated on and around the Toledo Courthouse square.

Fairchild is hopeful that groundbreaking will take place before the end of 2017. The project is expected to take a year to complete.