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The Roanoke Times

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Construction has begun on an effort to turn the Ferrum College Fitness Center into a branch of the Franklin County YMCA after a 3,900-square-foot, $500,000 expansion.

The newly renovated fitness center is scheduled to open in time for the fall semester in August said Garry Angle, executive director of the Franklin County YMCA.

The YMCA will lease the building from the school and run it, said Bobby Thompson, senior vice president for administration and treasurer at Ferrum College.

The YMCA will be on the site of the Ferrum Fitness Center, which includes two gyms, fitness equipment and racquetball courts, but is not currently open to the public.

"The Y needs to be in collaboration with major institutions with the community as part of our mission," Angle said. "And Ferrum is a logical step because we plan to work with some of their physical science students in their programs."

Curriculum for health and human performance majors to work with the YMCA is being developed, Thompson said.

"We're very excited â? to develop programming at the Y where they can gain some experience in that field, especially working with different age populations they'll find when they go out into their careers," Thompson said. "There's a lot of potential and possibility, but a lot of things we're still developing as well."

About $396,000 of the renovation cost is covered by a Health Care and Other Facilities grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The rest will come from the school, Thompson said.

Along with adding space, the renovations will include the addition of shower and changing rooms, class space and more fitness equipment, along with upgraded equipment, Thompson said.

"By adding changing and showering space, that hopefully will encourage faculty, staff and community to use the facilities on their lunch breaks, etc.," Thompson said.

Memberships for the community are available through the Rocky Mount YMCA, Angle said. Memberships will include the use of Ferrum's pool and tennis courts during certain hours of the week, he said. It will be the YMCA's third location in the county, and a membership to the Ferrum branch can be used at the Rocky Mount and Westlake locations.

Memberships for faculty, staff and students are included in tuition and employee benefits.

The project will create some jobs, including part-time staff positions, class instructors and a director position, Angle said. The exact number of staff that will be hired is unclear, he said.

The partnership is good news for the Franklin County YMCA, which has struggled financially in the past year.

In December, the Franklin County YMCA surrendered ownership of its Rocky Mount locations to CRM Mid-Atlantic Properties, an affiliate of SunTrust Banks. The nonprofit organization was unable to repay a $3.3 million loan, and instead filed a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure with the bank. The organization now rents its Rocky Mount facility for about $5,000 per month.

But a Franklin County Board of Supervisors vote in April refunded the organization $78,000 per year in taxes because of its nonprofit status, and a capital campaign is scheduled to start later this year.