Nonprofit Asks to Turn Old West Tuscaloosa Y Into Health Center

A nonprofit is seeking to purchase a now-unused YMCA facility in west Tuscaloosa and transform it into a multipurpose health clinic for those in need.

The Tuscaloosa city council "bailed out" the Tuscaloosa YMCA in 2021 by purchasing their west Tuscaloosa Benjamin Barnes facility and the downtown Y for $1.5 million, saving them from closure. The Barnes center opened in 1961 on 18th Street in West Tuscaloosa with funds raised by Black leaders to serve their community before they were allowed in white facilities.

Since then, the city's Elevate Tuscaloosa tax plan has funded the construction of the now-open "new" Benjamin Barnes YMCA, which was built next to the McDonald Hughes Activity Center and opened in December.

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On Tuesday, Reverend David E Gay, the executive director of Whatley Health Services, spoke about their clinics in a presentation to the Tuscaloosa City Council's properties committee. The city is seeking to sell the old Y building and the attached Weaver Bolden building now that the new facility is up and running.

Whatley was founded by Maude Whatley in 1977 as the West Tuscaloosa Community Health Center. It has ballooned into a modern nonprofit that employs more than 150 people and served 61,000 patients across nine sites in West Alabama in 2024.

Gay said he is a product of the Benjamin Barnes YMCA who played there growing up and there's a lot Whatley can do with the building, though it will require a large capital investment to acquire and renovate.

Gay said Whatley was the only group to respond to the city's request for proposals and said they would create a multi-function, community-based health center in the old Y if allowed.

"Even given that, there are some things we think we can do there to offer services we don't have," he said.

The proposed center would be the home for specialty services Whatley can't offer right now, or expand on those that they do, including the following:

Podiatry
Behavioral Health Services
Wellness Center for Nutritional Counseling and Exercise Programs
Imaging (X-ray) services
Chiropractor services
Optometry
A specialty shop for glasses frames and lenses
Denture services

"Overall, our goal is to continue the legacy of Maude Whatley," Gay said. "Primarily, we'd use that building to do some things we're currently not doing."

The acquisition comes with red tape, though - Deputy City Attorney Tom Bobitt said because the city purchased the building with federal Community Development Block Grant money, there are federal strings attached to selling or leasing it. It must be sold for fair market value, which will require an appraisal. Bobitt said that once approved by the city council, that process could be completed in a month.

After getting a price tag, Whatley can decide if it makes sense to purchase the property and move forward with their plans for the new health center. Gay said in a best-case scenario, they could be offering services there within a year of closing the deal.

For updates on this project as it develops, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.