In September, Catasauqua Area School District recently purchased the former Suburban North Family YMCA, located at 880 Walnut St., Catasauqua. The former YMCA building is directly across the street from Catasauqua Middle School, which was for many years the former Catasauqua High School.

The former YMCA officially closed Jan. 4. Despite popular disappointment over the YMCA closing, efforts to save the YMCA by the community and borough council from closing were anemic; thereby, the YMCA closed.

Reportedly, the school district purchased the former YMCA for $1.75 million, according to Lehigh County property records. The 6.2-acre parcel includes the former YMCA building, grounds and parking lot.

The district planned short-term use of the space is for storage and parking. Long-term use is to position the district to increase district expansion capacity working with design firm Alloy5, which will evaluate community and educational uses. Alloy5 is a Bethlehem-based design firm. Its role is to evaluate long-term options.

Alloy5, in the coming months, will be working to determine the best way to utilize the property to maximize the educational benefit for students and the community while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Alloy5 is located at 530 W. Broad St., Bethlehem. They also have offices in Allentown and Scranton.

Alloy5 was founded in 2015 and established by two principal architects in Bethlehem. The founders wanted to move away from the industry norm of naming a firm after its owners. Therefore they chose “Alloy5” to create an ego-free, collaborative company with a combination of distinct design fields. Alloy5 is experiencing national recognition developing hospitality spaces for the massive Resorts World gaming complex in Queens, N.Y., and many other projects.

Visit alloy5.com for detailed information about the company.

CASD does not, at this point, have a single, finalized design plan for the former YMCA building, but it purchased the property as an asset for long-term strategic and expansion asset.

Immediate and short-term uses position the district to use it for additional parking lot for athletic events at the middle school and for Alumni Field where Catasauqua High School plays football and other sports activities.

CASD Superintendent Dr. Christina Lutz-Doemling reportedly said buying the former YMCA directly adjacent to the existing campus protects the district’s ability to expand facilities nearby. Buying the property now prevents private developers from purchasing it, which avoids future spatial limits and saves taxpayers from future higher land costs.

For more information about the purchase and developing project, residents can attend school board meetings, which occur 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month in the CASD Administration Office, 201 N. 14th St., Catasauqua. November’s meeting, however, will occur at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, 4500 Education Park, Schnecksville.