By SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson YMCA is inviting the public to make their mark on its future by signing the final structural beam of its new facility before it is put into place.
The beam signing event will be held Thursday, Sept. 25, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the construction site of the 75,000-square-foot YMCA, located at the intersection of 20th Avenue and Lorraine Street.
“We thought that’d be kind of a neat idea to have a beam visible in the new Y that people could sign,” said David Foster, branch director of the Hutchinson YMCA. “It’ll be one of the last structural beams to go in place in the new facility, which is pretty cool. And we just wanted to be open to anybody and everybody in the community that would want to come out and be a part of that piece of history.”
Foster said the idea originated with the construction company, which suggested leaving the beam uncovered for the community to see. “We thought, man, that’s a great idea. A lot of times when you sign a board or a beam, it gets covered up. But the fact that it would be visible for people as long as the Y is there, I thought that’d be a pretty cool thing,” he said.
The new YMCA, scheduled to open in late summer 2026, will replace the current location on 13th Avenue. Plans include expanded fitness areas, two aquatic centers, a gymnasium and a dedicated gymnastics center.
“None of our other branches in the greater Wichita Y have anything like that,” Foster said. “So it’ll be something really specific and really neat to Hutch.”
The come-and-go event will take place in the south parking lot of the new site, with attendees asked to enter off 20th Street. “We’ll have a section kind of roped off or sectioned off in the south parking lot,” Foster said. “People can just stay long enough to sign their name on the beam and be on about their day.”
Despite recent rainfall, construction is on track. Foster said crews expect to install the signed beam about a week after the event. “They’re hoping to have the facility kind of buttoned up by Thanksgiving so they can put some temporary heat in there and work through the really cold months,” he said. “Things are progressing quite well.”