The Tamaqua YMCA is steadily filling the empty spaces of its building located in the shopping place along Route 209 east of the town.

Kim Johnson, president and CEO of the YMCA of Reading and Berks County, and Tamaqua branch executive director Nick Zigmant hosted a ribbon-cutting celebration Friday to honor the Y’s recent 5,000-square-foot expansion.

The expansion includes a party room, fitness room, aerobic studio and group exercise center, in addition to new state-of-the-art equipment. The Y spent $200,000 on the expansion and $135,000 on the new equipment at the site of the former Janesway store that closed in 1995.