YMCA

I sooooooo wish I could write up a better review of this facility, AND I hope I can write this review without sounding like a spoiled snob who accepts nothing but «top notch» facilities. I left the Huber Heights Y fully realizing that the Springfield facility was no where in the same league as that location. Spfld. is a «family» Y, which basically means it’s not affiliated with the regional (and possibly much better funded) Y’s in the area. I get that it’s bare bones, and the tour I got before I joined let me know that these facilities were… ok, not the greatest, but I wasn’t looking for a country club.
I paid my dues for the year, and almost immediately realized what I was NOT going to get here… Customer service is really pretty limited– Call in, or ask a question at the desk, and they often don’t know what you’re talking about, even if it’s in response to a program offering that says «check at desk for more info.» My biggest complaint about this place is NOT that the facilities, esp. the locker rooms, are in sorry conditions (nearly half the women’s lockers are permanently «out of order») and cardio machines seem to disappear rather than be fixed/​replaced. It’s that programs/​classes offered here are NOT set up for people who WORK during the day! They’ve got some interesting offerings, including weight training and «couch potato to 5K,» but almost EVERYTHING is either early in the morning or mid-​day! The straw that broke the camel’s back is that FINALLY there was a class I’d be able to attend, «boot camp,» which will be offered T/​TH at 6:30pm. After asking twice at the desk for more info (they had no clue…) I finally got someone who had more info, who informed me that this class «is just being offered for college students!!!» A) College students have 10x better facilities than this at their schools, and B) why is this Y targeting, yet again, non-​working community members (yes, I know school is work!!) and NOT people who (tragically) have to work for a living! Why am I locked out of this class?!? And another major pet peeve– Why does seemingly ALL the time/​effort/​$$$ go in to the pool when NO ONE WHO WORKS FOR A LIVING can use it??? It’s taken over by SPY, the Y’s swim team, just about 90% of the time or more. They might GRACIOUSLY give over a lane or two here or there for ALLEGED open swim, but they ALL appear occupied to me, and I wouldn’t dare go in and attempt to claim that free lane during one of their never-​ending practices…
Sorry, Springfield Y… You’re ALWAYS asking for donations, but I can’t even justify giving you another year of dues. You could be a great community resource IF you actually attempted to serve more of this community!!!