City Hall and the YMCA
In 1906, Waycross was a town with big ideas. A subscription drive was undertaken to construct a YMCA at a cost of $60,000. To give you some idea of the magnitude of the project, that would equate to a project in excess of $1,300,000 today, all to be funded by volunteer contributions from a City with a population of 14,485 (1910 census).
To design these buildings, the citizens of Waycross turned to a young architect from Jacksonville, Henry John Klutho. Klutho had closed his newly opened firm in New York and moved to Jacksonville in 1901 after a major fire devastated the City. Fame and fortune ultimately came his way with his Prairie School style of architecture. Perhaps his most famous building in Jacksonville is the St James Building.
Klutho’s design featured an exterior using different color bricks to create a Venetian design, wide projected roofs supported on brackets, an internal shaft for circulation, a swimming pool, gymnasium and a suspended running track. The third floor contained twenty two dormitory rooms.
Either the construction process or collection on the subscriptions was slow. In 1910 another major fund drive was held to complete the building by raising $25,000. This campaign was successful in raising the pledges, and notes were issued by First National Bank to provide the funds. Construction continued and the YMCA was opened on July 2, 1911. The dedication was held on October 14, 1911.
Interestingly in 1911, The Atlantic Coastline Railroad funded the building of another YMCA in Waycross. This larger facility on Screven Avenue featured thirty-five boarding rooms, a bowling alley and billiard room. On April 16, 1912, the doors opened to the Railroad YMCA. (As a teenager, I remember skipping church to go and rock on the massive front porch of this YMCA.)
Perhaps our town was not big enough to support two YMCA’s. For whatever reason, collection on those subscription notes fell behind, and on November 11, 1916, the YMCA was listed in the legal ads of the Waycross Journal Herald. The City of Waycross purchased the building for $25,000 for use as a City Hall on December 22, 1916. The minutes approving the transaction noted the building had not been used for several years.
Today City Hall still operates out of the old YMCA building. Substantial renovations were done in 1985, but many of the original architectural elements and evidences of the YMCA are still present. These include:
A tile mosaic of the YMCA logo is located between the front entrance doors to City Hall. It is protected by a layer of carpet. It was revealed to this author several years ago on the weekend the carpet was replaced. I just happened to come in that weekend to make this discovery.
The door knobs to the French doors on the front of the building contain the YMCA logo.
The second floor still proudly displays the massive wooden beam structure necessary to support the running track.
Photo by Beth Thrift
The interior open shaft from the first floor to the skylight on the roof provided air circulation to the inside dormitory rooms on the third floor. This is an early form of air conditioning.
Photo by Beth Thrift
Thomas Larry Gattis
The author wishes to thank Donna Carter for her extensive research on this project.