Strutting our stuff…

Kudos to the collaboration of the City of Fort Lauderdale and the L.A. Lee YMCA Mizell Community Center. Recognition of this unique partnership led to the City’s recent induction in the National Civic League’s 2023 All-America City Hall of Fame. The Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) provided $10 million in funding assistance, ultimately ensuring the success of the YMCA to obtain additional construction financing.

As architect of record for the L.A. Lee YMCA Mizell Community Center, SRS celebrates the history and vision of the men—Dr. Von D. Mizell and Dr. James Franklin Sistrunk—whose actions, purpose, and determination initially created Provident Hospital, Broward County’s first Black hospital, upon whose site the L.A. Lee YMCA now stands.

Our programmatic plan for this iconic YMCA addresses a multitude of aspirations for this formerly underserved community with offerings for children, teens, adults, and senior citizens. Among the elements of the four-story, 70,000 SF structure are preschool and child care, Broward College GED and job readiness courses and employment opportunities, community meeting rooms, co-working space, gymnasium, wellness center, swimming pool and water safety, Victory Black Box Theatre, a pharmacy and nurse-staffed clinic, and a food market hub offering fresh produce.

Designed to satisfy previously unfilled services and community voids, the YMCA is a testament to the goodwill of the people, the City of Fort Lauderdale, and all the funders who helped make a dream into a reality.