Organizers of a Scarborough YMCA are continuing to search for interested people who would like to join the effort.
“It’s time for the heavy lifting,” said Gary O’Donnell, a member of the YMCA Steering Committee. “We’re at a point where we need to expand the effort.”
In order to get the facility built, YMCA officials will need a large number of volunteers to work on the fundraising, programming and building construction. Those who are interested in volunteering may contact the Portland YMCA at 874-1111.
“To get this done we need a big volunteer network,” O’Donnell said at a Monday meeting to drum up support.
The programming committee will focus on the various programming at the future facility. A community survey indicated that people are highly interested in a pool, gym, recreation programs and family services. Incorporating these areas into the YMCA will be the committee’s focus.
The second committee is the fund-raising committee, which will be responsible for finding the necessary funding for the project – as much as $14 million. The fund-raising will be done in a phased approach starting first with those willing to donate seven-figure sums, then progressing downward.
Mark Urban, of Community Counseling Services, which is helping to conduct the campaign, said Hannaford has agreed to make a “major gift,” but exactly what they donated has not been identified.
Urban said he hopes each person on the committee will have to ask no more than five people for donations. So in order to raise the full amount said the committee needs to be large and diverse.
The building committee will work on the building plans and oversee the construction. The committee will work closely with the architect and one of its first projects to decide where to place the facility. Those with building or accounting backgrounds will be very helpful on the committee.
“It going to be a challenge, there a lot of work that has to be done,” said Cyrus Hagge, president of the YMCA Board of Directors.
After investigating nearly 11 sites throughout Scarborough YMCA officials have settled on the Bessey School on Route 1 site for the future facility.
The town-owned property is presently controlled by the school district. Both the Board of Education and the Town Council would have to agree to any change in use at the facility.
According to Hagge, councilors seem in favor of the plan and he will soon meet with school officials to gauge their opinion, but expects the plan will be well-received. The YMCA will most likely lease the land.
“We’re very optimistic that it will proceed as planned,” Hagge said.
The property will allow for an 80,000-square-foot facility to be built. However, Hagge figures that the first phase of construction will be a 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot building, which will then be expanded in the future. Other benefits to the site include proximity to schools, a central location in town and an intersection with a traffic light.
Included in the plan would be a renovation of the Bessey School into 40 senior apartments. This portion of the project is being performed by Housing Initiatives of New England.
The YMCA will be a freestanding facility located somewhere behind the school and both projects will be done independently and delays in one project will have no effect on the other, Hagge said.
The facility will include a pool, but whether it will be 25 yards or 50 meters will be decided later, based on the amount of money raised for the project. Current estimates indicated that a YMCA with a 25-yard pool would cost $11 million while one with a 50-meter pool will cost $14 million. The added money is to help create an endowment that will fund the pool into the future.
What is clear is that there is a large amount of community support and what the community would like to see the facility offer.
“This Y will be the biggest YMCA in Maine,” Hagge said.
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