The YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South is in discussions with the City of Lakeland to bring a new state-of-the-art community center to the northeast Shelby County suburb.

Over the past several months, Lakeland Mayor Josh Roman, Commissioner Michele Dial and Parks and Recreation Director Patrick O’Mara have met with YMCA officials to address how the city intends to enhance its Parks and Rec faciilties.

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Roman said officials are trying to get recreation space from a variety of places, such as churches. But they also are working on amenities to enhance the quality of life. He said even before his election last year, he contacted the local YMCA “to see if they would have an interest to have an ongoing conversation.”

The YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South serves around 250,000 people annually and counts roughly 100 partners at 200 program sites including 11 traditional gym and swim buildings.

“As we move forward there will be a lot of really interesting conversations about what this partnership really will look like in the end,” O’Mara said.

The conversations started with the YMCA wanting to expand its early learning childcare center located on U.S. 64. The YMCA is renting the space and is at capacity with roughly 100 children on the waiting list.

“Many people don’t know, but we are the largest provider of childcare in the region, in the state and in the county,” said Brian McLaughlin, YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South executive vice president and COO. “We have been working with the state, and the state has actually identified Lakeland as a childcare desert.”

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Lakeland is in great need of more space for its basketball programs. With that in mind, McLauglin said one of the aspects of a new facility would be a full-court gym for both basketball leagues and pick-up games.

An airnasium — a covered outdoor space that could have basketball goals or batting cages — would also likely be part of the plan. There are no such facilities in the Memphis area, the YMCA official said, and it extends the gymnasium outdoors.

An indoor pool, baseball diamond, fitness center, splash pad with a lazy river, along with food and community areas, are built into the prototype.

“If you’re a family, we want you to come and ... stay for four hours. We want you to have food. We want you to have childcare,” McLaughlin said.

“There’s a lot of synergy when we start thinking about how the early learning center operates next to the Y. Those kids can get swim lessons. They can get enrichment. They get an experience that’s very different than any other learning center.”

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He believes with BlueOval City coming, childcare is going to be a major challenge.

How the partnership between the Y and the city works out is still to be determined.

“The way the Y normally works, the community invests in the Y, and they come in and operate it. Through our initial conversations with them, they said there may be an opportunity for them to invest with Lakeland as a partner to where they help build a piece of this,” Roman said.

One possible location of the new center could be the newly established TIF “gateway” district just north of the Interstate-40 and Canada Road interchange.

“The gateway TIF district is large,” Roman said. “We should be able to find some land within it and land acquisition is a qualified expense, and so that would be the goal.”

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So far no timeline has been talked about for the project.

“I think if all the right pieces fell into place, they would jump into construction as soon as possible,” said O’Mara, who estimates two years for design and build-out. “I’m a Lakeland resident, and I’m excited about it. I think it could benefit the city in a multitude of ways. It will be exciting to see how it comes together.”