Doug Brit, executive director of the East Butler County Family YMCA, stands in one of the two indoor pools at the new facility which will open March 20. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        FAIRFIELD TWP — A month before its opening, the East Butler County Family YMCA at the southwest corner of Princeton and Morris roads already has 1,400 families signed to memberships.

        The Y is the first one in Butler County to feature a hospital wing, The Fort Hamilton Hospital Health Alliance Center for Health and Wellness.

        When it opens March 20, the facility will serve this fast-growing township, which now has 16,500 residents, compared with 9,300 in 1990. “It's just going to be a hustling, bustling place and exciting for the community,” said Bill Schumacker, 43, who has joined the Y with his wife Lynne and children, a daughter, 15, and son, 17. “I'll probably see my son more at the Y than at home.”

IF YOU GO

What: East Butler County Family YMCA    Where: 6645 Morris Road    Opens: March 20, with a March 24 grand opening 1 to 5 p.m.    Hours: 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday    Phone: 892-9622

        The 51,000-square-foot center boasts a whirlpool, sauna and two indoor swimming pools: an instructional pool for warm-water therapy with a water slide and a recreational lap pool with six oversize lanes 25 yards long.

        There also will be a three-sided, 20-foot high rock climbing wall, two basketball courts, aerobics studio, 6,000-square foot fitness center, nursery and multipurpose rooms.

        Fort Hamilton Hospital's 5,000 square-foot center will offer physical therapy, yoga, parenting and other classes. “The township is looking for its identity and this will provide us a gathering point,” Mr. Schumacker said. “It brings all the families together.”

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