Simi Valley May Give 5 Acres to Help YMCA Build $3-Million Site : Recreation: Council will consider giving land for an expansion that would include a pool and a new focus on fitness for older residents.

How can you have a YMCA with no pool? That’s what Simi Valley Councilwoman Sandi Webb wondered about her hometown Y as she shuttled her daughter to Thousand Oaks for swim lessons.

So when the tiny Simi Valley YMCA asked the city to donate a piece of land in order to expand, Webb eagerly supported the plan.

On Monday, the City Council will consider donating a five-acre parcel to the YMCA, saving the agency more than $1 million in land costs.

“I couldn’t believe a city this size didn’t have a real YMCA,” Webb said. “I am just thrilled to see that this is finally happening.”

The council first considered the YMCA proposal in March after concluding the city could make little profit selling the property, given zoning restrictions because of its proximity to a residential neighborhood. They agreed to donate some city-owned property, most likely the police station property on Cochran Street and Galena Avenue, that will soon be vacant and available.

Then the city issued a call to all social service agencies interested in that site.

The only group to respond was the YMCA, with a plan for a $3-million center that will include a large swimming pool and will emphasize health and fitness for residents 50 and older.

That could include a hydrotherapy pool with warmer water for arthritis therapy and a variety of low-impact exercise classes. Currently, the YMCA functions more as a community center--offering child-care services, counseling classes and summer camp--than as a gym.

The new center will be modeled after YMCAs in west San Gabriel and Verdugo Hills, which focus on older residents, said Simi Valley YMCA Executive Director Jim King.

“The thinking here is to expand into areas of the community that are underserved,” he said. “That is really our main goal.”

Fund raising for the new YMCA probably will not begin for two years, King said. And the new center should be completed by the spring of 2000.

“There is a lot of planning involved,” he said. “We are just at the very beginning stages.”

In the meantime, the 11-year-old Simi Valley YMCA will continue offering its community services. “We are a relatively new Y, compared to some of the others,” he said. “What we would like to do is become a more established and integral part of this community.”

City leaders have long pledged to bring more programs for youths, families and the elderly to Simi Valley.

The Senior Center near City Hall provides entertainment and health services for older residents, but little in the way of exercise.

A new Boys & Girls Club, fueled with community donations and $2.5 million in city funding, is scheduled to open in the next several years.

Webb said she is not bothered by the fact that some of the services provided by these centers and the YMCA may overlap.

“What we hear all the time is there is nothing to do in Simi Valley,” Webb said. “Well, I say the more the better. I can hardly imagine a situation where there would be too much.”

The Police Department could move as early as next summer to a new station now in the planning stages.