Community center with a well-equipped fitness center, pools, and a range of activities for all ages.
The East Belleville YMCA features two distinct pools: the Lap Pool is generally maintained at 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and the Warm Water Pool is typically kept at 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
What are people saying (AI review summary)? The East Belleville YMCA is widely appreciated for its strong community and family-oriented programs, especially for children, including before/after school care, summer programs, and a kids' club. Many members commend the friendly and welcoming staff, the cleanliness of the fitness center, and its convenient location near a bike path. The gym itself offers a decent selection of equipment. However, the facility faces several criticisms: some gym machines are older and require maintenance (e.g., rusted pins, torn padding), and specific equipment like lateral raise machines are noted as missing. Operational issues include frequent late openings, which frustrate early morning members. A significant concern was raised regarding the quality of youth camps, citing a lack of structure, undertrained young staff struggling with de-escalation and conflict resolution, and perceived dismissiveness from management regarding inclusivity for children who require more patience or understanding.
Reviews
East Belleville YMCA offers a great range of community-centered programs, especially for kids. Their before/after school and summer programs are clearly a strong focus, and it’s great to see those needs being met. I signed up for a trial to see if the $49/month membership would meet my personal fitness goals. The gym area has a decent selection of equipment covering most muscle groups, with multiple free weights, squat racks, and dumbbells. The only thing noticeably missing was equipment for lateral raises. While the machines are a bit older, that’s not a big deal—as long as maintenance is kept up. Some machines had rusted weight pins that were hard to use, and a few benches had torn padding. Simple fixes like lubrication and upholstery repair would really improve the experience and bring the gym up to par with other fitness centers. Staff were very friendly and welcoming. Overall, a good option—especially for families or those looking for more than just a gym.
We love the facility reason why we've been members for 20+years. However we continue to experience issues with the facility opening late during the week. Today was another example of this frustration, we arrived today at 0450 and left at at 0515 since we have a limited amount of time to workout. Please try and ensure the facility opens at 0500 as advertised which will relieve a lot of frustration for the members.
I sent my child to a one week camp during 4th of July week, so he only went 4 days. Day one of camp, I was told he had a rough morning. The teacher told me that she was just thrown in the room and did not know what she was doing, which to a 6 year old is prime time to get into what 6 year olds get into when there is no structure. She was extremely sweet though and I felt for her as I am also an educator and I know what kids are capable of when you don't have experience and/or have a plan. The second day was ok, however, when I picked my child up for the 3rd day they had a write up. Background knowledge, my child loves rocks and collects them, which I don't expect any of the counselors to know that. Anyhow, I was told another kid told one of the counselors that my child had rocks in their pocket and my child was told to put the rocks down and this upset my child. I was told it took him a few minutes to calm down. I don't know how that requires a write up but was told by one of the directors, who at times spoke over me and seemed like he could care less, that if a child needs time to calm down or if it takes one of the teachers away from a group then thats a problem and that he was not there so he doesn't know what happened. I was also told that there are two directors over the camps, and that there are 2 groups. Why wasn't one of them available to help so that the teacher can be where they need to be? I also know that there are very young teenagers and very young adults running these camps and you really only learn through hands on experiences. However, they need to have proper training. They need to be able to deescalate, to have conflict-resolution skills and how to be developmentally appropriate with smaller children. Like I stated earlier, I understand my child cannot have rocks, but the way in which it was handled was not ok and it escalated for the simple reason that, there are young teens and adults managing a lot of very young children without what seems to be, when speaking to the counselor who interacted with my child, the proper training. The YMCA says that it inclusive, but it seems that they are only inclusive if your child just sits, is quiet and does nothing. The director I spoke to said they are inclusive and began to bring up children that have IEP's. That is not the only way you are inclusive. How about the children that may just need a little more patience, or someone who takes a few seconds to acknowledge, validate and just listen for a second. I don't know a six year who is going to do something the first time you ask every single time. We don't even do that as adults. If the YMCA is going to have summer camp and say that all are welcome, then they need to make sure they are equipped and properly trained with procedures in place for all the children, not just the ones with IEP's. This is something that I am paying for, so I expect a little bit more. I even offered my services for free as I am off during the summer to help coach the young counselors or to just be an extra body to help some of the students who may just need that little extra amount of understanding, which is something we all could use. Needless to say, I will be finding other alternatives for my child.
Friendly staff, clean fitness center and great kid club staff! Highly recommend- very family oriented.
Friendly, clean and welcoming. Close to an awesome bike path.
| Sunday | 12:00 – 6:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Monday | 5:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Tuesday | 5:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 5:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Thursday | 5:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Friday | 5:00 AM – 8:00 PM |
| Saturday | 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
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