Mays Family YMCA at Potranco and San Antonio Public Library

San Antonio, Texas
60,000 SF

The Mays Family YMCA at Potranco establishes a healthy living-based community center, inclusive of a San Antonio Branch Public Library, the first ever co-located in the San Antonio library system. The project’s design goal: re-imagine a ‘big box supermarket’ from the late 1990’s with a challenged budget. The project’s programmatic goal: develop a new model for both the library and the YMCA that incentivizes overlapping use and brings an underserved community together in one facility.
The Mays Family YMCA at Potranco is nearly 60,000 sf encompassing a broad array of functions. Clustered around a community ‘Commons’ – established as a meet and great space – , the aquatics center features both a lap pool, leisure pool, 11,000 of two-level Fitness Floor, Gymnasium, 4 Group Exercise studios, Child Watch, Community Room, and a Teaching Kitchen providing healthy cooking classes.
Known for its Judeo-Christian ethic and right to dignity for all people, the YMCA is a quasi-Human Rights organization clearly evident in its programs. Renowned for Health Outcomes the YMCA, in all its facilities, seeks to address Economic Disparity by providing memberships for disadvantaged families through their Open Doors Scholarship Program. Additionally, by joining, a family increases their Community Engagement by attending events, taking classes, and ultimately using the facility. Of particular note, the Mays Family YMCA at Potranco’s Teaching Kitchen supports not only Healthy Outcomes but addresses a gap in our educational system by demonstrating how best to healthfully prepare a meal. These elements combined within one facility presents a singular opportunity to effect lasting change for the betterment of the community.