Built across Fifth Street from the newly completed Florida Power Building, the YMCA was an architectural beauty from the moment it opened.
As striking as its exterior was — and remains — it was the activities and amenities within its walls that made the building the city’s most popular recreational facility for decades.
The YMCA housed a full-size gymnasium that accommodated basketball, judo, boxing, gymnastics, wrestling, volleyball, and badminton. It also featured locker rooms, a weightlifting area, and an indoor running track.
Beneath these facilities, in the basement, was one of the largest indoor swimming pools in the city.
It also provided reading rooms, dining facilities, and 54 dormitory rooms for men.
Team athletics were also a big part of the YMCA. In 1956, the St. Pete Y gymnastics team won the national championship in New Orleans.