Megan Bittner, 11, from left, Riley Asbell, 11, and Emme Hahn, 11, Girl Scout 3498 troop members, volunteer on planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
Megan Bittner, 11, from left, Riley Asbell, 11, and Emme Hahn, 11, Girl Scout 3498 troop members, volunteer on planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
LeNell Anderson, 10, with Girl Scout troop 3498, second left, volunteers with planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
Yvette Webb, 10, with Girl Scout troop 3498, right, volunteers with planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
Yvette Webb, 10, with Girl Scout troop 3498, right, volunteers with planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
LeNell Anderson, 10, with Girl Scout troop 3498, second left, volunteers with planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
Megan Bittner, 11, from left, Riley Asbell, 11, and Emme Hahn, 11, Girl Scout 3498 troop members, volunteer on planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
Megan Bittner, 11, from left, Riley Asbell, 11, and Emme Hahn, 11, Girl Scout 3498 troop members, volunteer on planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
LeNell Anderson, 10, with Girl Scout troop 3498, second left, volunteers with planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
Yvette Webb, 10, with Girl Scout troop 3498, right, volunteers with planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
Yvette Webb, 10, with Girl Scout troop 3498, right, volunteers with planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
LeNell Anderson, 10, with Girl Scout troop 3498, second left, volunteers with planting marigolds at the current Gallatin Valley YMCA facility in Bozeman, Tuesday, May 21. The Gallatin Valley YMCA will be conducting a survey asking residents what they would like in a new facility.
Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez/Chronicle
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The Gallatin Valley YMCA is surveying residents about their recreational needs as the nonprofit studies the potential for a new facility.
“What we’re trying to determine is: What will bring people to the YMCA?” CEO Andrea Stevenson said Tuesday. “Are they looking for the programs that the ‘Y’ will provide? Are they looking for the childcare that the ‘Y’ will provide? Are they looking at the aquatics that we’re examining right now?”
The survey will also look at how much people might be willing to pay for membership and programs, she said.
The local YMCA has commissioned Strategic Research Associates, a marketing research firm based in Spokane, Wash., to call 400 random households throughout the Gallatin Valley. The survey takes about 8 to 10 minutes to complete. Phone calls began Tuesday and will be completed by June 19.
Information collected in the calls will be used for a statistically valid portion of the results of the survey. But if you do not receive a call during the testing period, you may still share your opinion by visiting strategicresearch.net and clicking on the link “Gallatin Valley Community Survey Opt-In.”
“It’s important for the ‘Y’ to hear from our community, and listen to our community now, as we are planning this facility,” Stevenson said.
The local YMCA currently operates out of a small building on South 23rd Avenue and rents space in area gyms, fields and churches for flag football, basketball, summer camp and other programs.
The nonprofit rents space at Bozeman schools, Montana State University, Eagle Mount and elsewhere.
“The problem we face is that there’s no more room for us to rent,” Stevenson said.
In the past two years, the number of families served by the YMCA has more than doubled, from about 1,800 families in 2011 to about 4,000 in 2012, she said.
It’s possible the YMCA might partner with the city.
Volunteers for the YMCA have been meeting with city officials to discuss the possibility of the city and the nonprofit teaming up to build a recreation and aquatic facility.
The city is pursuing the option as both its pools, the outdoor Bogert Pool and indoor Swim Center, are aging and have required extensive repairs in recent years.
The YMCA is at the initial planning stages of a facility. Stevenson said the nonprofit must follow its national mission to provide access to everyone and to never turn anyone away. Volunteers are planning a capital campaign for the potential facility, she said, but fundraising has not yet begun.
“But if there were a donor that wanted to step forth, we would sure talk to them,” Stevenson said.
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