Capital Campaign

$3.8 million from Renewal! The Spirit Campaign
$1,624,992.09 from Strengthening Our Community Campaign

Call 247-GIVE for more information.

YMCA Project Update

As you are all aware, the YMCA’s capital project has been a lengthy process involving many ups and downs.  Most recently, we have been at the mercy of the Corps of Engineers to process our wetlands permit so we could begin clearing the site.  We shared with you in the last update that we were using this time to work on some strategies that would allow us to build more of the facility Kingsport so desperately needs.  Since that last update, a lot of work has been going on (and continues).  Now, I’d like to fill you in on some more of what’s happening.

Our plans include building an indoor warm-water instructional/recreational pool.  You may be aware that the City of Kingsport is planning to build an aquatic complex and is studying a number of locations.  We have had limited conversations with the City about the possibility of building our facility next to their aquatic center.  Because this relationship would mean we would move our location and sell our site behind K-Mart, we will need to be sure the site is a mutually beneficial location. 

In this type of collaboration, the City would contract with the YMCA to operate the aquatic center, and the YMCA members would have access to the aquatic venues.  Doing this would provide both the warm-water pool we were planning to build, as well as a lap/competition pool and outdoor pools.  This strategy would also enable us to spend all of our resources on the rest of the building, thereby allowing us to build more of what the community needs.  This type of collaboration has already been very successful in many communities across the country.  We hope to finalize an agreement within the next 2-3 months.  A timeline will then be determined for completion of plans and construction. 

If for some reason an agreement is not reached, we will proceed on our own with construction at our current site. We received our wetland permit from the Corps of Engineers last week.

While this is not a certainty and there are a lot of details to work out, we are excited about the prospects of a collaboration that would provide the community with a first class, state of the art, municipal aquatics center and a full service family YMCA.  We will be providing you more information as the process continues.

Sincerely,

Charles W. Glass

YMCA Executive Director/CEO