Construction at the East Rowan YMCA is on schedule and going well, branch Executive Director Amanda Hesse says.

The building is partly under roof, the swimming pool is starting to look like a swimming pool and unless the weather interferes in some major way, the new facility will be ready to open by Thanksgiving.

Hesse notes a few changes from the original plans for the Y.

The deck of the swimming pool will be larger than first planned to accommodate swim teams, spectators for swim classes and swim camps. “We felt like we needed more room to be able to walk around the deck without feeling like you are going to fall into the pool,”Hesse said.

The fitness room, where the weight equipment goes, will be larger, too. “The opportunity just presented itself at several different meetings we had, and we just seized the moment. From everything we hear from other YMCAs, your fitness room is one area that you just can’t have big enough.”

The room will include free weights, a strength circuit and a cardio-theater, with rows of cardiovascular workout equipment in rows facing television sets.

Hesse said Y leaders also increased the size of the snack bar vending area to reduce the amount of traffic around the front desk.

When everything’s done, the facility will have areas for aquatics, aerobics, gymnasium activities, racquetball, fitness, after-school day care, nursery care, meetings and young people’s activities. The far end of the swimming pool area will include a steam room, sauna and whirlpool.

The East Y will have a membership drive from the second week in October to the second week in November, Hesse said, that will include waiving the initial joining fee. She said ultimately, all Rowan YMCAs should have comparable rates. “We are on a three-year plan. I am hoping the Salisbury Y will have a new facility and hoping everybody will be the same in three years. We will be very comparable to South Rowan.”

East Rowan’s YMCA capital campaign began in January 1999 with a meeting that attracted about 850 people. The campaign started with pledges of $2.65 million. The first gift came from Rose Saleeby and her late husband, Eli, and also picked up pledges of $100,000 from F&M Bank and Food Lion, as well as $375,000 from the J.E. Fisher Sr. families.

The Hurley family also made donations based partly on other pledges from local families and donors, and at the end of the meeting Buddy Barger pledged $25,000.

East Rowan schools contributed to the cause using money from a series of fund-raisers. Many community organizations also held fund-raisers and Hesse says individual donations figured significantly in the final sum of $5,948,945 pledged.“We’ve picked up dollars from the community at large as we’ve gone along and unsolicited dollars have come in. We are very pleased and excited about that,” she said.

The campaign ended last July, but a surprise gift of $25,000 came in from the Wilson Smith family, Hesse said. “It was a pleasant surprise.”

The new YMCA is between Rockwell and Granite Quarry on the campus of Nazareth Children’s Home.