2 years after tornado ravaged building, Andover YMCA is reopening. See how they rebuilt
Bryan Lee was spending his day off on April 29, 2022, at the Dr. Jim Farha Andover YMCA working out in the building.
Lee, who was the Andover Y’s aquatic director, was there just in case the new lifeguard who was closing that night needed any help.
“We [were] just having a nice day, planning to go somewhere to eat after,” Lee said.
But the day took a turn when an announcement was made on the loudspeaker.
“An employee, Tony, he made an announcement … over the intercom saying, ‘Everyone needs to come to the front, not a drill, there’s a potential tornado touching down,’” Lee said.
In just a matter of minutes, the YMCA suffered intense damage that caused the doors to close for two years.
But now, the Dr. Jim Farha Andover YMCA, which was originally built in 2009, is about ready to open those doors again. And it’s almost an entirely new building.
“We were down to steel and concrete, so everything is brand new,” said Ronn McMahon, the president of the Greater Wichita YMCA. “We do have some features that are different.”
One big addition is an indoor parks area, which includes a new climbing area called the “lucky climber” and a play turf. Before, the area was a lot more closed off due to the older, larger climbing wall. Now, it’s a more open space.
The previous two racquetball courts were also transformed into a tumbling center.
“That’s kind of a fun, new addition,” McMahon said.
All the gym equipment is new. Even if all of the previous equipment wasn’t destroyed in the tornado, most suffered too much damage to be reused. Even the basketball courts have all new flooring.
The separate boys and girls locker rooms have been rebuilt into one large family locker room as well.
An immediate ‘pressure drop’
YMCA employee Lee recounted the night of the tornado to The Eagle.
He said once the warning was made over the loudspeaker, Lee looked outside the window and saw a funnel forming outside the building. And even though it was Lee’s day off, he went to the front desk and started pointing guests and staff members to the locker rooms.
“It probably took a matter of minutes [to get people into shelter],” Lee said.
When the door shut behind them, they felt an immediate pressure drop, causing ears to pop, and a rumbling in the building around them.
“And then the funnel lasted, it felt like barely a minute,” Lee said.
When everyone stepped out of the locker room, there was debris everywhere. A big portion of the building had collapsed, and several cars in the parking lot had been thrown into the side of the building.
“I didn’t realize how bad the front was until I went out in the front, where we saw the whole Kid Zone area completely demolished,” Lee said.
Staff and guests were almost immediately met with first responders who helped lead everyone out of the building.
After Andover’s closure, Lee worked at different YMCA locations across Wichita. While he did return to work at the Andover location when the aquatic center reopened last year, he now finally gets to go back to the completely rebuilt building.
A ‘surreal’ feeling
Lee said seeing the building now is a strange experience.
“It felt surreal going back in, it was kind of like, ‘Wow, this is the same place,’” Lee said.
The Andover YMCA will resume normal operations Monday. If you want to take a peek before then, the lobby will be open Saturday and Sunday.
When rebuilding the YMCA, McMahon said, the main goal was to make sure it was upgraded in a way that patrons would still want to use. Before the tornado, the location had been well-utilized by guests, and McMahon wanted to make sure guests still wanted to use the rebuilt one in the same way.
“So we kind of felt like, we can get a 90% back [as it was] and then do 10% ... of new features, which is about where we ended up,” McMahon said.
“It’s just a great Y, so we just wanted to get it back as much as we could.
“We’re just excited to welcome everybody back,” McMahon said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
“I hope people enjoy it,” Lee said.
This story was originally published May 16, 2024 at 2:08 PM.
