Historic YMCA to Light up for First Time in Decade

In remembrance of lives lost and in celebration of the holiday season, the Historic YMCA will light up for the first time Monday night in more than a decade. 

According to Tom Nestor, a local promoter hoping to turn the Historic YMCA into a rock museum and concert venue, the evening ceremony will be, "one of silent reflection and prayer for those across the nation who have recently fallen from the hands of others and a release of pain from all tragedies in our lives from 2012."

The events on Christmas Eve begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Historic YMCA, located at 116 5th St. S. There will be three minutes of silence at 6:57 p.m. and at 7 p.m. lights will shine on the Historic YMCA. 

"With so many recent events being traumatic in nature coupled with end time calendars and doom & gloom fiscal headlines etc, we at Historic YMCA Inc. thought the time was imminently due for shedding some light into the darkness. (To) share with the entire Tampa Bay community (both young & young at heart) that there is pope, there is cause for celebration and there is a future for our world," Nestor wrote in a news release. "One that we can change for the better for the majority of all us whether that be our close family, friends & associates to our neighbors down the street and new faces that we meet."

Starting Dec. 26 Nestor will open the doors to the Historic YMCA for tours through New Years Day. Guided Tours will be held at the middle of each hour starting at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30,  3:30 and 4:30 p.m.

On New Years Eve, from 8 p.m. - 1 a.m., a free concert is planned at the historic building feature local Tampa Bay artists. All events are free and open to the public. 

Hearing for demolition of the Historic YMCA have been delayed as Nestor and co. continue to raise money to save and reuse the Historic YMCA in downtown St. Petersburg.