Price tag rises for Santa Ana Heights YMCA

Rising construction costs have pushed the price of a community center

planned for Santa Ana Heights from $11.5 million to $17 million, but

the cost hike hasn’t dampened enthusiasm to build the facility.

The 48,000-square-foot center will replace a much smaller YMCA

facility at 2300 University Ave. YMCA officials will handle the

details of construction and run programming at the new center, but

the city of Newport Beach will own the building and the land.

The biggest matter of debate now is whether to build a 25-meter

swimming pool, which was the original plan, or a 50-meter pool,

Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said.

The facility also will include classrooms, a catering kitchen, a

gymnasium and a multipurpose room. The pool decision lies with the

YMCA and the city, but officials are working with a Santa Ana Heights

community committee to see what residents want, said Art Wannlund,

president of the YMCA of Orange County.

The existing YMCA has about 2,000 members but serves closer to

7,000 people, most of whom are from Santa Ana Heights and Costa Mesa.

While the YMCA and its users will benefit from new and expanded

facilities, the city of Newport Beach will save on operating costs by

letting the YMCA run the center, Wannlund said.

“This has been exciting for us, because we’ve seen that these

types of relationships work very well in other communities,” Wannlund

said.

The larger budget, which includes the land and building, must be

approved by the Orange County supervisors before construction can

begin.

Money is unlikely to be a problem because the center will be paid

for out of a pool of redevelopment funds for Santa Ana Heights. The

county officially controls the redevelopment money, but Newport Beach

officials have been in negotiations to assume control, with an eye to

annexing the remainder of Santa Ana Heights -- the eastern portion

was annexed in 2003.

Kiff said the supervisors will consider the bigger community

center budget in September. Officials hope to start construction next

summer and open the facility in 2007.

Unlike a community center planned for Newport Coast, this one has

not been controversial with residents, Kiff said. The Newport Coast

center would be built where a park now sits, on a prominent site at a

major intersection.

“That’s such a high-profile site,” Kiff said. “This is already a

YMCA.”