CARBONDALE - The Greater Carbondale YMCA has undergone huge changes in the past several years, including evicting some dust bunnies from the third floor.
"It was actually a haunted house," Executive Director Steve Durkin said of the space with a laugh. "We hadn't had anybody living here in 40 years. It was just wasted space."
About 4,000 square feet on the third floor now houses the Carbondale branch of ProCare Physical Therapy. The office had been in a 700-square-foot room elsewhere in the building, which was quickly outgrown, as was the 1,400-square-foot room that followed. Now the busiest branch of ProCare, which sees about 53 clients each day, has room to practice.
"It's more real now," said Karen McGraw-Non, the facility director. She is also a physical therapist who holds a masters in science and a doctorate in physical therapy.
"It's win-win for both of us," she said of ProCare and the YMCA. "It allows all our patients to have access to the facility."
The open space on the third floor includes bright windows, open space, a turf area for sports treatment and private rooms.
"We are providing the service, but it's not an institutional-looking facility," Dr. McGraw-Non said. "I think it makes the patients feel more comfortable."
The $300,000 upgrade also opened another room downstairs for child care and preschool, Mr. Durkin added, explaining that it was not the only addition to the YMCA. A "Little Free Library" was also added last week.
The international initiative places a small, enclosed wooden shelf with a door in a public area. Residents are encouraged to browse the ever-changing selection and take a book at no charge.
"We're doing this as a joint venture to try to encourage reading in the community," Carbondale Public Library Director Marie Zaccone said.
On Wednesday, the Little Free Library outside the YMCA included a James Patterson novel and the book "In Her Shoes." Mr. Durkin said it was a perfect pairing with the facility.
"I'm not as much of a reader as I should be," he said. "Once I read one though, I want to read another. It's kind of like exercising."
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