The Young Men's Christian Association was founded in London in 1844 as a refuge for young men. The first U.S. YMCA opened in Boston in 1851. A group of young men met on March 25, 1874, at the First Presbyterian Church, Seventh and Capitol Streets, to discuss forming a Springfield YMCA. The impetus was to provide reading rooms and meeting space for young men as an alternative to saloons. They met in the basement under the sanctuary in the same building that exists today.
The Springfield YMCA operated in various meeting halls and churches until constructing its first building at Fifth and Capitol Streets in 1885. The YMCA purchased property from First Presbyterian Church and in 1908 constructed a building on the site that is now the church's education/community center. That facility had the first indoor filtered swimming pool in Springfield. In the 1930s and 1940s there was a teen nightclub in the basement.
The YMCA sold the property back to First Presbyterian Church and moved to a new building on 4th and Cook Streets in 1962. The 1908 building was demolished, and First Presbyterian Church built its education center on the base of the old Y. The outline of the pool is still evident in the sub-basement.
To better serve the community, a second YMCA was constructed on the west side of Springfield with state-of-the-art pools, fitness areas and child care facilities. The $18 million Kerasotes YMCA opened in 2011. The 1962 downtown YMCA served the community for more than a half-century, and a more modern facility was desperately needed. In 2020, the new $33 million YMCA opened in the heart of the medical district. The building at Fourth and Cook streets was demolished, and the land was given to the State of Illinois.
The Springfield YMCA remains devoted to the core principles of building strong bodies, minds and spirits. In 1891 Dr. Luther Gulick created a new emblem for the YMCA – an equilateral triangle with the three sides representing spirit, mind and body. Gulick was a medical doctor and leader in physical education who contributed to the invention of basketball. He melded his strong spiritual beliefs with teaching physical activity. Engineers and architects recognize the exceptional strength and stability of triangles. While the YMCA logo has been updated over the years, the triangle remains part of the emblem, representing the resilient foundation of building strong minds, bodies and spirits.
– Karen Witter
