After adding on and making do for more than three decades, the White Rock/Lake Highlands YMCA is ready to spread its wings.
This “Y” began its existence in the late 1950s in what is now the McShan Florist building on Garland Road. Within a few years, the “Y” began building its current facility across from Lochwood Mall at Garland Road and Lochwood Boulevard.
That site was completed in the 1960s, before the population boom in our area. Today, the needs far outstrip the capabilities of the current building.
Three years ago, Lake Highlands resident Elliot Stephenson noticed a sign on a vacant lot at Greenville and Stults Road: “New Lake Highlands Family YMCA to be built here.” A management consultant who works and lives in the Stults area, Stephenson called and volunteered to help.
“I believe that it was something that our neighborhood clearly needed – something that youth, families and older people could all benefit from,” Stephenson says.
Several committees of volunteers are working to make the new YMCA a reality. These committees, together with the architectural firm Corgan Associates, have been busy analyzing similar facilities in the United States and Canada to determine how to make the best use of space and design to build a state-of-the-art facility.
The facilities committee, chaired by neighborhood resident Pat Kunz, is working with the architects to develop a design that will best suit our community. An indoor pool, available for members year-round, is only one of the features in the works.
Dean Vanderbilt, a chairman on the fund-raising committee, says the fund-raising begins with pledges.
“We first have to raise $630,000 in pledges. At that point, the Metropolitan YMCA will give a matching gift of $1.9 million,” Vanderbilt says.
“So we began by asking for major donations to get us started. There are opportunities for major donors to have portions of the new facility, such as the gymnasium or other rooms, named for them or to memorialize a loved one.”
So far, major donations make up about a third of the pledged amount.
When the “Y” reaches its initial monetary goal for the new facility, a gala groundbreaking will be held. Soon after, the committee hopes to expand the fund-raising to the families and small businesses that will benefit most from the new facility.
Says Stephenson, who is now chairman of the neighborhood YMCA’s board of management: “The YMCA is more than just a building – it’s a place where the community has a chance to come together and enjoy the benefits of living in this wonderful area.”
If you are interested in making a pledge or learning more about the new YMCA, call 214-328-4621.
