Eldon & Elsie Ward Family YMCA - YMCA of Central Ohio — Attraction in Columbus

PROS: Front desk staff and the director from NY are always positive, helpful, engaged, welcoming, and overall seem genuinely interested in making this a pleasant space for members. Lots of friendly familiar faces. Hands down, the best YMCA staff in the area. Even the janitor/maintenance worker is social and kind.

Lots of community engagement and sharing or relevant information to members' interests

Strategic focus on meeting the unique social, cultural and health needs of the specific communities they serve

Affordable and conveniently located. This is the only full gym to serve several neighborhoods

A wonderful and much needed social and fitness resource for senior citzens

Cons: ** Most of the cons are due to what seems to be inadequate funding being allocated to this particular location in comparison to other YMCA locations in the area rather than shortcomings of the staff

Much of the equipment is old, poorly functioning, broken and/or outdated. Some of the weights are missing. Nearby YMCAs in wealthier and whiter neighborhoods, like Gahanna, already had nicer and newer equipment but they recently received additional funding to get even newer equipment, meanwhile this location equipment is struggling.

The place is always dusty. I always feel disgusted doing anything that requires me to be on the floor even with my mat. So I stopped and needed to go other gyms. The amount of dust, hair, and other miscellaneous debris on the floor and trapped on the base of the equipment makes me gag.

Not enough equipment. There is only one bench press machine and sure enough, there is always some older woman hugging the bench for other types of workouts instead of using a regular bench

Operation hours. Less and somewhat inconvenient open hours than other YMCA hours

IDEAL IMPROVEMENTS (Easier said than done):

Increase operation hours. This gym should have the same accessible hours that wealthier and whiter neighborhoods have

Investments in equipment. This gym does not meet the needs of many people in the community and we have to commute further distances to have access to a decent gym. To help improve the walkability of our community, we should have fully functioning community resources that are on par with the standards of comparable resources in other communities.

A DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP clean of the facility followed by intensive monthly cleanings as well

Increase in the frequency, intensity and diversity of fitness classes offerings

Overall, I would not recommend this place to anyone who is looking for a primary gym to maintain/improve their health and fitness unless they are a senior citizens. This YMCA shines as a community resource center and has a lot of potential, but as it, it is not a...

My first experience swimming at a YMCA at this location was not the best. The nice lady at the front desk told me the pool would open at 4. When the pool opens the lifeguard is nowhere to be found and she came out at about 4:10. I decide to hop in the pool because she had spent 10 minutes just standing by the pool and I was berated by said lifeguard (don’t know her name) to get out of the pool because she was ‘not ready’. How am I supposed to know if you’re ready or not when you decide to just stand by the pool and have a nice conversation with everyone else except me? So I then decided to dry off because I didn’t want to deal with someone’s poor attitude. At about 4:15 she rudely says ‘okay you can get in now’. I have no clue why she had such a condescending attitude towards me, but was nice to everyone else who was there to swim. I didn’t mean any trouble, I was just there to swim and I didn’t feel like I deserved to be talked to like that. I gave two stars because everyone else working here is kind, however, I will not be back to this location as I feel uncomfortable being around someone, especially a lifeguard, who treated me like I was less than a...

I can’t say enough good things about the Tuesday evening Water Zumba class! The instructor is absolutely fantastic—so creative, upbeat, and, most of all, FUN. Each class feels like a dance party in the water, and the way she leads us makes working out feel effortless (but trust me, we are getting a real workout!). AND A SHOUT OUT TO THE AMAZINGLY, AWESOME LIFEGUARD!

I love how we’re laughing, moving, and enjoying ourselves the whole time, yet I leave feeling like I’ve really accomplished something. After class, I sleep like a baby—so relaxed and refreshed. And the best part? The next day, I always have a noticeable boost in energy. It’s the perfect combination of fitness and fun, and I actually look forward to every session.

If you’re looking for a joyful, energizing way to stay in shape and unwind at the same time, this Water Zumba class is...