Stillwater’s health corridor on 12th Avenue is one big step closer to getting its star tenant. The Stillwater City Council has approved a rezoning that opens the door for a new, flood-hardened YMCA, a roughly 56,000-square-foot center with pools, courts and family programming that organizers say is built to stand up to future high-water events.
At its Monday meeting the council adopted Ordinance No. 3598, shifting the site from single-lot family residential and agriculture to a Commercial General Lot so it can host the YMCA within the 12th Avenue health corridor, according to the Stillwater News Press.
The planned YMCA is described as a roughly 56,000-square-foot complex featuring two pools, two basketball courts, innovative play areas for children, a culinary training space and an indoor walking track. Project leaders told reporters the nonprofit expects initial site work this year, with a goal of breaking ground in 2026 and wrapping up construction in fall 2027. The current YMCA building at 204 S. Duck St. is under a memorandum of understanding with Oklahoma State University, which plans to purchase that property, according to Yahoo.
Design for flood risk
Developers are putting flood resilience at the center of the design. The first phase of earthwork is expected to raise the building pad roughly eight feet above the existing grade to cut the risk of recurrent flooding. "Then after that, we had a bad flood … and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea,'" YMCA executive Shane Harland told the Stillwater News Press.
Timeline and fundraising
Organizers estimate the project cost at about $33 million, with a local fundraising goal near $8 million. Campaign leaders say roughly $5.8 million has been raised so far. Those figures were reported by Yahoo, which carried reporting from the Stillwater News Press.
What comes next
With the rezoning now approved, the project moves into detailed engineering, stormwater and permitting reviews and public site-plan hearings before major construction kicks off. City officials and YMCA leaders say they plan to keep coordinating on drainage, traffic and neighborhood impacts as the design phase gives way to heavy earthwork on 12th Avenue.
