Photo by Deb Gau The weather outside was frightfully cold, but community members could still get active indoors at the Marshall YMCA this week. On Tuesday, kids were building forts from foam blocks in the gym.

MARSHALL — With temperatures dropping as low as 29 degrees below zero, and wind chills approaching 60 below zero, the past couple of days haven’t been a good time to step outside. Local schools cancelled class, a number of community events were postponed, and even some businesses closed up shop Wednesday as people were encouraged to stay indoors.

But for people not interested in being cooped up at home, there were still a couple of places they could go in Marshall. There was a good-sized crowd gathered at the Marshall Area YMCA on Tuesday afternoon.

“Today has actually been very busy,” said YMCA staff member Savannah Lightfoot. “We do have a lot of high school and middle school kids in the basketball gym, and a lot of their parents are here.”

While programs at the YMCA and the Marshall Adult Community Center were cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday, both facilities stayed open. Marshall Area YMCA executive director Tom Bolin estimated that at one point on Tuesday, around 50 people were using the facility’s gym. Even after that peak time, there were still plenty of kids playing in the gym or shooting hoops, while adults circled the walking and running track on the upper floor of the building. The Y’s childwatch was also busy Tuesday morning, Lightfoot said.

In spite of the cold Tuesday and Wednesday, staff at the Adult Community Center and the YMCA said their facilities would continue to serve local residents.

ACC coordinator Barb Lipinski said the decision on whether or not to keep the center open depended on what the conditions looked like in town.

“Quite often, we stay open,” Lipinski said. “The center provides the very important role of a social connection” for seniors in the community, she said. While attendance at the ACC did go down during this week’s extreme cold, Lipinski said it was good to still be able to offer that social connection.

Keeping the community connection open was also important for the YMCA, staff said. The gym and fitness facilities at the Y are resources for members, but the main lobby is also open to the public.

“We want to keep it open for people,” Lightfoot said. On a day like Tuesday or Wednesday, it offers a chance to get out of the cold, besides meeting community members.