By Gage Wilson
For Glasgow News 1
The Barren County Family YMCA had the opportunity to show off its newest addition Tuesday morning as U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie toured the facility, culminating with a look inside the recently completed senior wing.
Built specifically with the Y’s older members in mind, the roughly 3,000-square-foot addition will provide a dedicated home for senior exercise, activities and social programming, including a longstanding meal program offered through the Barren River Area Development District.
YMCA staff and BRADD representatives accompanied Guthrie through the facility before arriving at the new addition, where much of the conversation turned to the partnerships and funding that helped bring the project to completion.
Among those joining the tour was BRADD Lead Community Development Specialist Matt Pedigo, who has been involved with the project since its earliest stages.
Pedigo said the addition held a special place in his heart because the $750,000 Community Development Block Grant used to help fund its construction was the first CDBG project he had closed on his own. After seeing the project through from an application to a finished addition, Pedigo described walking into the completed space Tuesday as humbling.
The grant process began in 2023, when Pedigo joined YMCA CEO Tara Bailey before the Glasgow City Council to seek the city’s assistance with the application. Because the YMCA could not apply directly, Glasgow served as the conduit while BRADD helped prepare and administer the grant.
At the center of the project was a need for more room to serve the YMCA’s senior members, including those participating in a senior meal program offered through BRADD.
The program provides lunchtime meals to people age 60 and older five days a week. Until now, those lunches have been held in one of the YMCA’s basketball gyms, requiring a recreational space to regularly double as a dining area.
With the addition complete, those lunches will move into the senior wing, giving participants a permanent place to gather while returning the gym to recreational use.
The new space will also accommodate exercise, educational and social programming geared toward older adults. BRADD has previously highlighted the YMCA partnership as an alternative to the traditional senior center model, allowing participants to have access to meals as well as programs such as SilverSneakers and Bingocize.
The $750,000 CDBG was awarded in 2024, providing the bulk of the funding needed for the addition. Construction continued into 2026 before wrapping up this year.
For Bailey, Tuesday’s tour offered an opportunity to show Guthrie not only the finished addition, but what the additional space will mean for the YMCA’s senior members.
She said it was exciting to have an opportunity to showcase the project beyond the local level and highlight the partnerships that helped bring the addition from an idea to a completed space.
For Pedigo, Guthrie’s visit also provided something of a bookend to a project he helped begin more than three years ago, this time with the grant paperwork behind him and the finished product in front of him.
Key Facts
– U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie toured the Barren County Family YMCA’s new senior wing on Tuesday morning in Glasgow.
– The addition is roughly 3,000 square feet and is designed specifically for older YMCA members.
– A $750,000 Community Development Block Grant awarded in 2024 provided most of the project’s funding.
– Glasgow served as the grant conduit while the Barren River Area Development District helped prepare and administer the application.
– The senior wing will host exercise, educational and social programs, plus a weekday lunch program for adults 60 and older.
– Senior lunches will move out of a basketball gym and into the new space, freeing the gym for recreational use.
– BRADD officials say the YMCA partnership offers an alternative to the traditional senior center model.
– YMCA CEO Tara Bailey and BRADD’s Matt Pedigo say the project showcases local and regional collaboration.
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