Leaders Celebrate Opening of West Tuscaloosa’s New Benjamin Barnes YMCA

Community leaders who have dreamed of this day for years celebrated Thursday at a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the new Benjamin Barnes YMCA in west Tuscaloosa.

The $12 million project broke ground last October next to the McDonald Hughes Community Center on Martin Luther King Boulevard to replace the original building, which first opened in 1961 on 18th Street in West Tuscaloosa with funds raised by Black leaders to serve their community. The Civil Rights Act did not outlaw segregation until 1964, and this YMCA gave the city's African American community a place to gather, exercise, learn and more.

The monumental task is now finished, and leaders were emotional to see the dream finally realized after so many years of delays and debates.

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Funding from the project came from Tuscaloosa Mayor Maddox's Elevate Tuscaloosa tax plan, and although there was some resistance to the idea of spending municipal money on a YMCA facility, the mayor said it's an investment worth making.

The city doesn't make $11.3 million-dollar investments on hope.
We make those types of Investments if we believe somebody's going to do something remarkable," Maddox said. "The city has the easy part of this equation. You've got the more difficult challenge moving ahead. And so we thank you for the work that you're doing and you're going to do for our children."

Maddox credited west Tuscaloosa city councilwoman Raevan Howard, the daughter of former councilor Bobby Howard, for championing this cause for years until we reached this day.

"I remember when my father was on the council, and this was something that they were still working on at that at that time," Howard said. "I'm happy to be a part of the solution and to be able to see this coming to existence today. And most importantly, I'm happy to see a lot of our youth out here because this hard work and dedication from everyone in our community is because of them. This is a facility that they will have in their community to create their memories and to grow up in a nice, safe environment."

The Y was represented by Jeff Knox, the CEO of the YMCA of Tuscaloosa County, and by LaKeda Smith, who will serve as executive director of the new Benjamin Barnes Branch.

"December 19th, 2024 is a day that has been divinely orchestrated by our God as a gift to Tuscaloosa and in particular West Tuscaloosa as here we are standing in front of a new, functional facility," Smith said. "And we're standing here today because we all worked together, every last one of us. And I would like to ask you to join us. Join the YMCA in the city of Tuscaloosa as we continue to pour into the next generation of leaders - teachers, doctors, presidents even. Great mothers, great fathers and great children. Join us as we do that."

Knox thanked the city council, the architects and builders who made this dream a reality and many other stakeholders who made Thursday possible.

"Today, we're going to celebrate not just what's new, but a continuation of a legacy that started in January of 1953, when a group of visionary leaders decided they wanted a YMCA," he said. "That was where Benjamin Barnes started, so we're going to continue that legacy today, and we're going to continue it tomorrow."

The new YMCA features a basketball court with a second-floor walking track around it, a weight room, a locker room with showers, multi-purpose space and more, complementing the resources already available at McDonald Hughes.

Hundreds of community members backed into the new space Thursday afternoon for a tour after the ribbon-cutting, which was conducted by some of the children who will grow up using this facility.

For more coverage of Elevate projects and other news from around West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.