YMCA of Washington County is one-fifth of the way completed toward their fundraising goal for a new indoor aquatic center.

Planning for the addition to the new Washington YMCA building began in earnest this past March, as the current indoor facility has experienced four shutdowns since November 2020. Fundraising began in June with letters to the donors of the first phase of the project and their board of directors and in just a few months they raised $1.1 million in donations for the estimated $5.5 million project. YMCA CEO Amy Schulte says the response has been overwhelming, and she shares who their solicitations will be directed towards next, “Our next group that we’re really going to kind of focus on are our past and present swim team families and members. Our YMCA here in Washington has a long legacy of producing a great, very competitive swim team even in the limited facility that we’ve had for the last 97 years. So just kind of reaching out to those families and asking for their support for the next generation of swimmers.”

Schulte says the new pool will be built from donations and grants, such as a $100,000 Wellmark Foundation grant they are applying for this coming February. Since the repair costs to their nearly century-old pool has totaled about $10,000 in the past year she hopes to be able to break ground on the east side of the new building in 2023. This is a county-wide fundraising effort, as 48% of the swimmers in their current facility live outside of the city of Washington and 21% are from outside of the county. For more information on the project, visit here.