CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Progress is being made at the new Clarion County YMCA construction site on Mayfield Road.
Despite the heavy rain that has fallen in the area in the last month, M & B Services, of Clarion, has poured footers for the lower end of the building, and columns for a retaining wall have been built.
Earlier this fall, Clarion-based Terra Works cleared brush and erected the safety fencing in preparation for paving by Strattanville-based Hager Paving.
Once the paving was done, other work began.
According to Gary Marshall, construction manager for Altoona-based Leonard S. Fiore, Inc., the general contractor on the project, about 14 days were lost due to excessive rainfall.
“It really hurt us, it cost us about 14 days,” Marshall said. “Every time it started to dry up, it would rain again. But we got the sub-grade pad done and the footers poured on the lower end and now the mason is starting to lay block.”
Contractors were busy on Tuesday as temperatures reached 60 degrees.
Clarion County Branch Manager Jesse Kelley (pictured above) said he stopped by the job site recently.
“It was exciting to see an active work site after going through the wet season here,” Kelley said. “Seeing it really start to come to life after six years of active campaigning and fundraising and 25 years before that, it’s special.”
“Seeing something positive happen in the community and knowing that it will benefit everyone from infants to those 100 years of age, it’s amazing,” Kelley said. “It will be pretty neat to see the vertical sections start to go up after Christmas.”
Marshall said the metal sections of the building will begin arriving right before Christmas, around December 21, and through the end of January.
“We’ll start with framing the lower end, then the pool, then the gym and basketball courts,” Marshall said. “Then, the side panels and roof panels will arrive.”
Marshall said they hoped to have the outer sections of the building up by Christmas, but the rain slowed things down.
“As long as winter doesn’t come in too early and too hard, we can still get things up sometime after the holidays and begin working inside,” Marshall said.
Marshall said the project is expected to be complete by October 2018.
For more information about the Clarion County YMCA and Y programs visit ClarionCountyYMCA.org and Facebook.com/ClarionYMCA.
The Clarion County YMCA is a branch of the Scenic Rivers Association, which includes the Oil City YMCA, Clarion County YMCA, Younger Days Child Care, and Camp Coffman.