YMCA returns to downtown Kansas City with $35 million remake of historic Lyric Theater

Downtown Kansas City hasn’t had a full-fledged YMCA in 40 years. That will change in a couple of months.

The Kirk Family YMCA will offer its full range of amenities to the public starting Oct. 11 in the renovated historic Lyric Theater building, 222 W. 11th St. The facility includes community meeting rooms, swimming pools, a gymnasium, a wellness area and a suspended indoor walking track.

The Y’s return to downtown is the culmination of a $35 million renovation and reconstruction of the Lyric building. The project was funded by $16.9 million from the 11th Street Corridor Tax Increment Financing District, about $4 million from state tax credits and donations from foundations and individual donors. It is named for the Kirk family, longtime YMCA of Greater Kansas City donors and supporters of the downtown Y.

The renovations, which began in 2018, combine contemporary design with the original building’s historic features. The lobby preserves marble flooring, wooden doors and elaborate ceiling finishes that date back to the 1920s. In some rooms, ornate ceilings hang above modern exercise equipment.

“I think it will show that even through the legacy of time that, when people get together, they can do some pretty cool things,” said Mark Hulet, the chief operations officer of the YMCA of Greater Kansas City.

Unlike in the suburbs, the downtown demographic offers a mix of people from a variety of ages who are not only living in the area but working there, too.

“Traffic and energy are increasing downtown, and the new Y will be open to support the increasing number of workers returning downtown,” president and CEO John Mikos said in a news release.

The building’s construction was completed in 2020, but the pandemic delayed the facility’s opening by almost a year.

Instead, the four-story Kirk Family YMCA has been opening in phases, kicking off with a summer day camp program in May. The camp aimed to support working families and help children through the pandemic’s learning disruption.

The former downtown YMCA, which was located at 10th and Oak streets, closed in 1981. Though the YMCA has operated a facility in Quality Hill, it was limited to fitness equipment and group exercise classes — lacking the services, such as youth programming, that are characteristic of the Y’s full facilities.

Leading up to the October opening, the center will provide tours of the 65,000-square-foot facility from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays beginning this month.

“You’ve just got an opportunity to bring people together, whether it’s about wellness, fitness, serving and volunteering and doing greater community good, which is what the Y does,” Hulet said.