NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It just seems like a year for big anniversaries for middle Tennessee. After all, we just celebrated 100 years of the Opry. There's another organization that's been part of the Nashville story even longer.
At the YMCA of Middle Tennessee on Thursday, there were boxes full of shirts. They were white shirts with red collars. If they looked like a throwback, there's good reason for that. They were based on the shirts worn at the Y in the 1960s. The story goes back further than that.
"1875 was when the first YMCA opened up downtown," said John Mikos, president and CEO of YMCA of Middle Tennessee. "The story actually started 150 years ago."
It was in an area that's now Fourth Ave. North. This was the years after the Civil War and industrialization was bringing people to Nashville. The original leaders believed a positive place was needed for meetings and Bible study. Shortly after a Church St. location was opened in 1890, the YMCA Ramblers basketball team were part of the Y becoming a place to stay fit.
A Y location emerged on Seventh and Union in the early 1910s and stayed there until the early 70s. It was an important spot not just for the amount of time it was there but also because of the history in those years.
"The YMCA played a huge part in WWI and WWII," Mikos continued. "The YMCA's one of the organizations that helped found the USO for service members. It was a safe place that people knew they could rely on to be with other folks."
During the 1960s, as desegregation efforts were going on at businesses in downtown Nashville, the Y's segregation policy was also protested. It was a time of significant change for Nashville.
By 1973, the Y arrived at its current site on Church Street. Over the years there, logos have changed, equipment has changed, and the length of socks have changed.
Two-and-a-half years ago, construction on a multi-million dollar renovation of the building began. On Thursday came a ribbon cutting for the renovated downtown Y.
"That's been what's really resilient about the organization, we're an organization that adapts based on what those community needs are," Mikos said.
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