Groundbreaking date set for new Winona YMCA

Group also has closing date on sale of current building. 

A groundbreaking date for the new Winona YMCA has been set.

Nov. 1 is now on the schedule, as the YMCA moves from its downtown location to the east side — by Winona Health between Lake Winona, Dairy Queen and Wells Fargo.

After months and months of planning, fundraising and battling city zoning, the groundbreaking date, final sale of its current facility are finally on the calendar.

“We’ve been working on this for a very long time,” YMCA executive director Derek Madsen said, mentioning excitement multiple times.

Design plans for the new facility have already begun, as the groundbreaking also accompanies news of a closing date on the current building. That nearly 70-year-old structure — originally built in 1949 — will become the property of autism treatment group Partners in

Excellence of Minnesota in January 2019.

Around $3 million of the $13-million goal still needs to be raised for funding the new building.

Madsen plans to do that by fall and doesn’t expect it to be a problem.

Initial plans for the YMCA include an expanded fitness center, pools and gymnasiums, among other things.