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Local businesses anticipate increased foot traffic with new YMCA opening in December

Photo of the YMCA in progress. (Copyright 2024 by WSLS 10 - All rights reserved.)

ROANOKE, Va. – A new YMCA is coming to Tanglewood Mall on December 10, and almost 60 people have already signed up at a membership drive for the wellness center.

Construction is still underway with flooring set to occur next month and then painting.

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The unit will be transformed into different workout rooms, like free-weight areas and pickleball courts. The YMCA at Tanglewood will also feature hot yoga, group exercise studios, and barre and sculpt classes.

“I’m actually very excited because I only live a couple miles from here and neither one of the other locations has been very convenient for me, so I’m excited,” said Resident Marla Bohling.

YMCA of Virginia’s Blue Ridge President and CEO Mark Johnson is also super excited. Johnson said they decided to open a YMCA at Tanglewood after conducting a study that helped them realize they were missing a whole group of people in the area.

He also thinks opening a new YMCA will help bring more businesses to the Tanglewood Mall as well.

“It feels awesome, I mean, the example I would give is Daleville. Very different project that we had but, you know the Daleville YMCA, when it was built there were four houses behind it. Now there’s over 100, you know, and while that’s not completely the YMCA being there, the YMCA really does have a record of it’s destination. It’s a reason to come into the mall and so it does feel really good,” said Johnson.

10 News spoke with a few businesses, and they agreed that the new wellness center would help the mall. Merle Norman Owner Diane Tuttle said it will bring more people to her shop and help them get healthier.

Again, the YMCA is set to open December 10, and there is an open house scheduled on December 7 where you can sign up and tour the new YMCA.


About the Author
Keshia Lynn headshot

Keshia Lynn is a Multimedia Journalist for WSLS. She was born and raised in Maryland and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and Society from American University and a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

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