Already the new YMCA building on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road fits right in with the neighborhood, flanked by the Martha’s Vineyard Arena on one side, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services and the skate park on the other side, and the regional high school across the road.

And if your vision of a YMCA is rooted in past memories of dank, mostly windowless, poorly heated concrete buildings, look again. The Vineyard’s new YMCA is a marvel of open space and sunlight.

Entering the building, a visitor is greeted immediately by an open glass wall that provides a clear view of the 25-yard long indoor swimming pool, as well as what will soon be an outdoor basketball court and an indoor workout area, perched above. Everything is modern and elegant, right down to the sleek furniture in the lobby and nearby snack bar.

And it’s big. The 35,000-square-foot, green-designed facility is located on a five-acre property leased from the high school behind the skate park. In addition to the pool, workout areas and snack bar, the facility includes child care rooms, hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms.

Construction started last May after years of planning, including a detailed review by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

This week the building was still full of construction workers and cleaning crews, who were busy putting the final touches on the new $11 million dollar facility. An opening originally set for Memorial Day weekend has been put off until June.

YMCA president Chuck Hughes, executive director Jill Robie and vice president Judy Crawford played tour guides, along the way discussing everything from the decision to paint the lockers purple to the trials that went into making the building a reality.

The current construction is only the first phase of the project; a new gymnasium and teen center are planned to follow. And there is still much fund-raising to do, Ms. Robie said.

About $3.5 million is still needed to complete the first phase, while the second phase will cost another $4 million. “We are still raising money, and will continue to raise money to complete this building. We will finish fund-raising before we do more construction on the second phase; that is the financially responsible thing to do,” Ms. Robie said.

She is confident that donations will increase in the coming months.

“Now that the building is here, and people can see it and touch it, I think that will be a big help to our fund-raising,” she said. About 600 to 700 people have already signed up for memberships, including family and individual memberships, she said.

Mrs. Crawford showed off the child care center on the first floor, along with the snack bar and full-service kitchen which she said were built with many in-kind donations of services from Island contractors.

The building uses passive solar energy for heating, Mrs. Crawford said.

And everything in the building is accessible for people with handicaps. “Everything . . . from the pool to the exercise machines. When we are finished we will have a raised track on the second floor, so we can have a wheelchair Olympics up there, if we wanted,” Mrs. Crawford said.

“What’s the point of building a Y that everyone can’t use? I don’t mean just making it handicapped-accessible, I mean providing a facility that offers something to everyone,” Mr. Hughes said.

“A place where a parent can drop their child and go swimming,” he continued. “A place where students can play basketball after school, where seniors can stop for a swim or a cup of coffee, or just watch everything happen. I think of this building as the hub of the community. And in that sense, we couldn’t have asked for a better location.”

Pausing in the workout area upstairs, Mrs. Crawford said the design of the building allows for each area to overlook the next. “When you step on the treadmill, you’re looking over the pool. When you’re back here working out, you’re looking out over the playground . . . everything is open, everything is shared,” she said.

Ms. Robie said the Y has leased all new, state-of-the-art exercise equipment. Many of the machines are compatible with smart phones and iPods, and feature their own television screens which allow for personalized programming.

Ms. Robie said the pool will accommodate competitive swimming programs, youth instruction, synchronized swimming, birthday parties and scuba training, while group spaces will host exercise classes, spinning, yoga, pilates and Zumba classes.

Ms. Robie said the Y will not have a full slate of classes at first, but plans to build programs as membership grows. “We will spend some time figuring out what programs the public want. We aren’t going to offer classes in everything just for the sake of doing it. We want to fill a need,” she said.

She expects scheduling to be a challenge.

“We want to get in as many of our programs as we can in the prime times. But everyone wants classes at 9 a.m., and obviously we can’t do everything at that time. We will probably have like 50 instructors around the Island who want to get in here, but of course we have a limited number of slots. It’s a good problem to have, but still one that needs a solution,” she said.

Mr. Hughes took over as YMCA president four years ago. At the time there were a number of questions about the project, including about financing, but he said the board of directors held a steady course throughout.

“I would say they are pathologically optimistic, and when you are talking about a project of this size and cost on Martha’s Vineyard, you have to be,” he said. “The last five years haven’t been easy; we always were running into some kind of wall to climb. But we got over the walls, and kept moving forward.”

Ms. Robie, who came on as executive director last November, also praised the board and other community members who were involved in the project.

“A metaphor I like to use has to do with water, which of course is appropriate since we are an aquatic center. I think water is one of the strongest forces of nature, and it always gets to where it needs to go. And that’s how I would describe the board and all the people involved in this project; they are like water,” she said.

Looking over the new pool, she completed the metaphor. “I’m still new here, but this is probably one of the strongest pools of people I have worked with.”

To sign up for membership in the YMCA, go to ymcamv.org or call 508-696-7171.