ROCKLAND — The Rockport-based Penobscot Bay YMCA is approaching opening day for its new facility at 12 Water Street in Rockland. The former Amalfi Restaurant space was purchased by Stuart and Marianne Smith and Smith received approval from Rockland to put a fitness center and day care center in that space. Through conversations with the YMCA and the Smiths, the collaborative chips starting falling into place.

“We are going to open as soon as we can,” said Troy Curtis, YMCA executive director. “We have to have all the permits in place as far as occupancy goes, and of course the construction needs to be completed. We’re waiting on the locker rooms to be finished. We can open fitness up and daycare in early January when we hope to be up and operational.”

Tyler Smith, director of property management for Bayview Management, said the building was not purchased with the YMCA in mind and it was only after a lot of emails and work by Marianne Smith that the Y’s expansion came about.

“Marianne Smith called me and said ‘we’ve got this building,’ and we had been looking,” said Curtis. “They had space and they had the vision that this would make a good place. There isn’t a space anywhere that can compare with a setting like this that looks out over the ocean. It was an easy sell from that point and it was a matter of putting together the fundraising. That was successful, as well.”

Curtis said that having a facility in Rockland is a big step for the Y. There has been a desire for several years to have a facility in southern Knox County.

“Particularly with Rockland being the service center for Knox County,” said Curtis. “We felt that that was a community that could support and really benefit from the types of programs the Y provides. This is a perfect opportunity to develop some strong relationships with that community.

“We’ve been looking in the city of Rockland. We spent a great deal of time and energy exploring the Thomaston Green to put a small facility similar to this on that piece of property. Things just didn’t quite come together from a strategy point of view to make that work.”

Smith explained that they are one of the building owners, and as the Y is a tenant, they have worked closely with them to build out the space.  He also said that he hopes to be able to turn the fitness side over to the Y by the end of next week.

“They have some responsibility for the build-out, but the majority of it falls on us to get it ready for them,” said Smith. “Basically the whole space has been renovated, but half that is childcare. There are four childcare rooms and a fitness area that includes a weight room and fitness equipment room, a fitness studio, some smaller office for personnel and two locker rooms with showers.”

Smith said the daycare facility is for everyone and not for use by those using the fitness center exclusively.

“There is one room other than the lobby that connects the daycare to the fitness center,” said Smith. “There will be a card scanner in the lobby that lets you in the fitness center, but if you want access to the childcare facility you’ll need to scan a different card.”

“For childcare there are four rooms that go all the way from the front of the building to the back,” said Smith. “That’s so each one can have its own set of windows and doors to the outside play area. Off the top of my head I think the childcare area is about 4,000 square feet. That’s about 10 kids per room and two of the rooms have sliding walls so we can combine them if we need to.”

Curtis said that the daycare facilities that are part of the fitness center will be ran by the Y, as well. He also pointed out that the Y is currently the largest child care provider in Knox County.

“We have almost 150 toddlers and preschoolers in our program,” said Curtis. “We felt there was a need for that type of service in Rockland. It certainly is part of the Y and a big part of who we are as an organization, and that’s to meet those families needs for child care in the community.”

Smith said they worked with architect John Hansen to see what possibilities could be done with the former Amalfi space. The fitness side has a workout room for aerobics or yoga, a weight room and the work out equipment faces large windows that look out over the ocean.

Smith also said that given the layout of the building, it would be possible to hold yoga and fitness classes outside on the front deck.

“We get people every day that come by and want to know when they can start working out,” said Smith. “Most of the kitchen equipment that was here was donated to Meals on Wheels.”