New Pearl Street YMCA opening soon in Tacoma. Here’s what we know
.jpg "The new Pearl Street Family YMCA building will have a grand opening on Jan. 1, 2026.")
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Pearl Street YMCA opens Jan. 1, 2025, with aquatics center and climbing wall.
- Y raised $27.5 million for phase one, began construction in 2024.
- Phase two requires additional fundraising and will add gyms, courts, studios.
A newly improved Pearl Street Family YMCA is opening Jan. 1 in Tacoma with a new aquatics center, strength-training area and enhanced climbing wall.
The YMCA is hiring 70 new jobs, and the new building will have a lazy river, lap pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room. Its existing building at 1002 S. Pearl St. will continue to house the gymnasium, cardio center, group fitness classrooms and gymnastics studio, the YMCA said in a news release.
Construction on the new building (which is at the same address as the old one) began last summer after the YMCA raised $27.5 million in donations for the first phase of the project. Its new climbing wall was created in partnership with the Liz Rocks Foundation to honor Tacoma native and mountaineer Liz Daley, a 29-year-old who died in an Argentina avalanche in 2014.
According to the news release, the grand opening “marks one of the most significant investments in the Y’s future in more than a decade.”
Pending additional fundraising, Phase 2 of construction will include the creation of another new building at the same address that will have new gymnasiums, a cardio room, art room, chapel, teen center, lounge, child watch area, multipurpose rooms, community meeting room, racquetball and squash courts, cycling studio and an indoor walking track, according to an FAQ on the Y’s website.
Once construction on Phase 2 is complete, the original building that was built in the 1970s will be torn down, said Jyot Sandhu, the external communications manager for the YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
