The Ponce YMCA Building is a historic structure located in the municipality of
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...
. It is located at 7843 Calle Nazaret,
Urbanizacion Santa Maria. The structure was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on 4 June 2012.
The YMCA of Ponce also has a daycare with teachers and a social worker.
History
The history of the Ponce YMCA dates back to 1917 when the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
was organized in San Juan. In 1919 efforts and surveys were made to start YMCA work in Ponce. In 1934, Manuel Bueno became General Secretary of the Puerto Rico YMCA, the first native Puerto Rican to hold the post. Hurricanes in September 1928 and again in 1931, prevented the Ponce work to move forward once more, as money that had been obtained for the International YMCA Committee had to be used by the San Juan YMCA to help towards repairs to the San Juan YMCA building after these storms. In 1934, however, the YMCA of Puerto Rico became self-supporting.
[.]
The Great Depression of the 1930s, however, made it very difficult once more to move forward with plans to build a YMCA building in Ponce. The General Secretary, for example, received no salary for six months. As a result of these difficulties, affiliation with various statewide YMCA organizations was sought in 1944, and again in 1947. The Ponce YMCA was founded in 1947, partly as a result of these affiliations.
Its architect was Pedro A. de Castro Gaya, the son of architect
Pedro Adolfo de Castro. On 10 September 1953 the new Ponce YMCA building broke ground. It was inaugurated on 22 February 1955.
[.]
National Register of Historic Places
The Ponce YMCA was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on 4 June 2012.
[.] Its listing was made possible in part for its interior mural by
Rafael Rios Rey titled ''"El Hombre"'' (English: Man).
Current use
The building has been in continuous use since its inauguration, and sees heightened activity during the summer months with the addition of
summer camp
A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...
programs. During the year it caters to children and adolescents. Over 400 children use its programs.
[.] It also holds regular summer camp programs.
[.] The Ponce YMCA oftentimes works in conjunction with the Ponce Region Boy Scout movement in order to help the boys' programs with growth.
The building is heavily used for its sports facilities. The Ponce YMCA executive director in 2019 was Maritza Correa.
''Orgullo ponceño: YMCA reconoce la trayectoria del árbitro Jorge Vázquez.''
Junior Lugo Marreo. Ponce, Puerto Rico: La PErla del Sur. 2 October 2019. Year 36. Issue 1870. 2 - 9 October 2019. Page 22. Accessed 2 October 2019.
See also
*
References
External links
Summary sheet
from the Puerto Rico State Historic Preservation Office
{{Portal bar, Puerto Rico, National Register of Historic Places, Visual arts
National Register of Historic Places in Ponce, Puerto Rico
1955 establishments in Puerto Rico
Sports venues in Ponce, Puerto Rico
YMCA buildings
Buildings and structures completed in 1955
Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico
Sports venues completed in 1955