Tag Archives: Westport YMCA

Big Plans For A Little Downtown

Posted on January 10, 2013 | 110 comments

Here are some new renderings of Bedford Square — the retail/restaurant/ residential complex planned for the Church Lane area, once the Westport Y departs for Mahackeno.

Looking west, down Church Lane. The original Y building is at the left in this drawing.

Looking west, down Church Lane. The original Y building is at the far left in this drawing.

Looking east, up Church Lane toward Christ & Holy Trinity. The Spotted Horse is on the right.

Church Lane again. This time Urban Outfitters is on the left.

A view from behind, of the renovations to the original YMCA Bedford Building.

A view of Church Lane, from the corner of Elm Street (on the right).

Looks like a lot of changes to downtown, right?

For a vastly different perspective, check out this aerial view of Westport, looking east. (Post Road West is at the bottom of the photo, leading to the Post Road bridge. The athletic fields on the lower right are between King’s Highway and Saugatuck Elementary Schools.)

Suddenly, downtown seems quite small.

And very insignificant.

(Photo credit: From the Air.)

110 Comments

Posted in Downtown, YMCA

Tagged Bedford Square, Spotted Horse restaurant, Urban Outfitters, Westport YMCA

Drill, Baby, Drill!

Posted on April 2, 2012 | 5 comments

I’m not sure what was going on at 35 Church Lane this afternoon.

Drilling for oil?

Preparing for an expansion of The Spotted Horse, the wildly popular restaurant across the street?

Test borings to see if the Y really can expand into the space next door?

Whatever the answer, it’s clear there’s more action on Church Lane now than there has been in ~~years~~ ~~decades~~ ever.

5 Comments

Posted in Downtown, Restaurants, YMCA

Tagged Church Lane, Spotted Horse, Westport YMCA

Stools

Posted on July 27, 2011 | 6 comments

You can’t stop progress.

First the Y sells its downtown building.

Then Mario Batali and Danny Meyer bring New York-chic restaurants to our little village.

Now Coffee An’ has gone an’ reupholstered their stools.

Alert “06880” reader Larry Perlstein sent this photo along:

The owner — George — told Larry it’s the 1st time the seats have been redone since the place opened.

What’s next? A level floor at the Duck?

6 Comments

Posted in Restaurants, YMCA

Tagged Black Duck, Coffee An', Danny Meyer, Mario Batali, Westport YMCA

Cool News

Posted on July 22, 2011 | 2 comments

The Westport Y: It’s not just for winter storm victims.

That isn’t the tag line. But it could be.

In March 2010 — when some Westporters lost power for a week — the Y opened its doors to anyone for showers, stress-relieving workouts, even cell phone charging.

Now — 16 months and 6000 degrees later — comes news that Y is a “local cooling center.” As the Village People know, it’s fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A.

You can stay until closing at 9:30 p.m., just hanging out in one of the public areas — including the very comfy Bedford Room.

When the pool’s open, you can even swim — free of charge.

How cool is that?

A Westport Water Rat swimmer. You don't have to go that fast.

2 Comments

Posted in Weather, YMCA

Tagged Heat wave, Westport YMCA

Channeling Stevan Dohanos

Posted on May 25, 2011 | 2 comments

In 1953, Westport illustrator Stevan Dohanos posed some Camp Mahackeno boys at the wooden bridge, where Poplar Plains Brook runs into the Saugatuck River.

The result was a classic Saturday Evening Post cover.

This afternoon — 58 years later — Westport Y officials gathered some Water Rat swim team members at the same spot.

A few things were different — there’s no totem pole, but there are girls and safety railings — yet much remained the same.

The kids loved the watermelon. The trees and rocks haven’t moved. There’s still no mountain in the background (Dohanos’ artistic license).

(Photo/Miggs Burroughs)

The photo will be used as part of the Y’s fundraising campaign. And although the new Y will be built just a few yards from where the 1953 cover was drawn — and the 2011 photo taken — the brook and river will remain.

Hopefully they’ll look the same in 2069 — 58 years from now.

(The August 1, 1953 Saturday Evening Post cover is courtesy of Peter Prigge — a Mahackeno camper who posed for Dohanos’ illustration.)

2 Comments

Posted in Arts, Children, YMCA

Tagged Camp Mahackeno, Stevan Dohanos, Westport YMCA

Just Another Day At The Beach

Posted on May 14, 2011 | 5 comments

It’s not exactly beach weather, but hundreds of folks headed to Compo today.

Castles in the Sand — a fundraiser for Homes With Hope — drew a great crowd. A team from Tauck World Discovery created a cruise ship, while a crew from the Westport YMCA constructed “the new building” at Mahackeno. (“It took them 10 years to make that?!” one ~~Y’s~~ wise guy asked.)

Plenty of families and friends came up with their own designs too.

Nearby, the Westport Youth Commission-sponsored volleyball tournament was underway. The group has worked hard this year to bring police and teenagers together; one result was two teams on which cops and kids played together. They wore neon t-shirts, proclaiming “Police & Youth Connect.”

5 Comments

Posted in Local business, Organizations, Police, Teenagers, YMCA

Tagged Homes With Hope, Westport Police Department, Westport YMCA, Westport Youth Commission

Y’s Words

Posted on May 10, 2011 | 27 comments

The Westport Y kicked off its fundraising campaign for the new Mahackeno building this afternoon, on the steps of the soon-to-be-former site.

Cherry blossoms framed the scene for speakers like Bill Mitchell, Robin Tauck and Sam Gault — whose families have been Y members since before “y” was a member of the alphabet — but the most interesting moment was a factoid casually tossed out :

The Y is Westport’s 4th largest private employer.

Who knew?

And who knew the 3 that are bigger?

(Bridgewater Associates, Terex and MetLife.)

One more intriguing factoid:

Construction of the new Y will create 175 jobs — for 2 years.

And renovation of the current Y into a retail/commercial/residential complex will create dozens more.

The Westport Y’s tagline is “We build strong kids, strong families, strong communities.”

They should add “strong economies, too.”

27 Comments

Posted in Local business, YMCA

Tagged Bridgewater, Terex, Westport YMCA

Not Getting Older…

Posted on April 11, 2011 | 3 comments

…just better.

The Federal-style Sherwood House across Church Lane from the Y is being prepared for its move 6 to 8 feet closer to the street.

It’s headed for new life as a restaurant — with outdoor dining and gas lights — and office space on the 2nd floor.

The Y is moving too, but it won’t get jacked up. A whole new building is planned for Mahackeno.

Hard to believe — or maybe not — that something built in 1978 has aged a lot worse than one dating back to 1802.

3 Comments

Posted in Downtown, YMCA

Tagged Sherwood House, Westport YMCA

How Far Would You Go?

Posted on February 17, 2011 | 31 comments

I lucked out the other day: I found a parking spot smack in front of the Y.

Site of the next great Westport restaurant?

As I got out of my car, 3 guys were checking out the dilapidated-but-handsome-and-now-under-renovation Federal home on Church Lane. I’m guessing they were potential investors in the restaurant planned for the site, nestled between the former Red Cross building and Manolo.

Would you go there? they asked.

That’s a wide-open question — sort of like the polls that ask if you think you’ll get married, without actually asking to whom. I mean, are we talking seafood or Thai (which I love ) or Hooters (which, um…)?

So I talked to the restaurateurs about Manolo, that general area of downtown, and the Y itself.

Basically, I said, Westporters don’t like to walk. They’ll circle the block endlessly, in order to park next to the YMCA — so they don’t wear themselves out heading to the Fitness Center.

Zest — a pretty good restaurant — couldn’t make it there; I’m sure the limited parking (“15 Minutes Only” right in front) didn’t help. Finalmente, around the corner, has had to battle the perception that there are only 4 parking spots within walking distance.

Well, what about the Baldwin lot? — the one behind Williams-Sonoma — the restaurant guys asked. Wouldn’t people park there — especially if the new place had outdoor tables?

I didn’t want to dash their enthusiasm. On the other hand, I didn’t want to cause them to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars either.

So I’ll ask my ever-perceptive, always-honest “06880” readers: What do you think?

Answer the survey below. But beware: If you say “yes,” you’re morally obligated to support the new restaurant.

31 Comments

Posted in Downtown, Restaurants

Tagged Finalmente Ristorante, Manolo restaurant, Westport YMCA