COLD FACILITY/STEAM ROOM INOPERABLE
It’s not the steam room itself, but rather the availability of steam to the facility. While the solution is complicated, in a nutshell, the company that provided the entire downtown area with steam to heat the buildings is having trouble paying their bills and the steam generator that was in place got re-possessed. An emergency unit was brought in to buy some time until the problem gets resolved. The temporary unit is smaller and less effective providing steam to the Y which is at the end of the line, so pressures at the street are below satisfactory. To heat the facility and the pools, we have to adjust valves to maintain pressure. The amount of available steam is so low, that keeping the steam room valved on means that the rest of the building suffers.
UPDATE – February 25, 2026
Steam pressure has returned to consistent, sufficient psi which has enabled us to heat the facility and pools. We’ve also reopened the steam room in the HFD locker room and everything seems to be functioning normally barring any interruption in the steam supply.
UPDATE – February 16, 2026
Here are a couple links that might fill in some blanks for you.
UPDATE – February 11, 2026
Techs have been working all day at the SOBE plant on the northside. Component failure rendered all steam generators offline leaving the entire downtown area without heat. This includes the YMCA. Deep pool temp has dropped to about 65 degrees. Air temps in most areas are in the low 60’s or upper 50’s. This makes your YMCA experience less than we expect and we truly appreciate your patience. We’re told that the steam generators should be back online sometime during the overnight hours. A power outage yesterday forced the closure of the facility after about 3 pm. All of the above issues were beyond our control.
UPDATE – February 9, 2026
It’s been reported that the backup generator went down over the weekend and the 650HP generator has shown less than adequate steam out put (half of what the 800 was putting out). Techs have arrived from VA to get both generator’s back up and running and should be onsite by 9 am on Monday, Feb 9. Steam pressure is almost non existent in the facility currently.
UPDATE – Feb 2, 2026
The backup steam generator was brought online this weekend. While the supply of steam to the Central facility has improved, it’s quite there yet. The facility and pools are pretty good temp wise, but we’re still maximizing steam output to keep these areas usable. Pressures inside the building are at about 1.5 psi. They need to be closer to 4 psi to have enough to bring the steam room back to operation.
UPDATE – January 27, 2026
Word is that the back up 800 HP steam generator is set to be delivered by the end of this month. Once connected, it will provide not only back up steam, but also supplemental steam during bitterly cold snaps like we’re having this week. In the meantime, we’ve headed down the road of investigaing the possibility of a stand alone steam generator, similar to the one at the Davis branch. Depending on the cost and available funds, this would provide steam independent of the SOBE provided steam that is currently in short supply. Just waiting on some pricing.
UPDATE – January 14, 2026
The supplemental unit has been installed, but pressure variance swings run the risk of damaging equipement. With low pressure, things won’t work. With high pressure, things will be damaged. We can’t take a risk until this is resolved. We’re working with the techs at SOBE.
UPDATE – December 26, 2025
By the end of Dec, a supplemental unit will be installed that we hope will provide the additional steam needed to operate effectively. Right now, we’re waiting for that install to be completed while plans are in motion to add a backup steam generator to make sure everyone has the steam they need to operate. Lawmakers and government representatives as well as the PUCO and multiple downtown business, (including the Y), have all been involved in working out a permanent solution.
