Wednesday — February 4, 2004

Ketchum YMCA meets $1 million challenge

City will be asked to grant
additional $3 million

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"We cannot thank the Works of Grace Foundation and the entire valley community enough for their unparalleled generosity."

— CYNTHIA MURPHY, Wood River Community YMCA board of directors chairwoman

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Officials from the Wood River Community YMCA—the public recreational facility proposed for construction in Ketchum—announced this week that they have met the terms of a $1 million matching grant designed to put at least $2 million in the organization’s coffers.

Mike Wolter, campaign director for the Wood River Community YMCA, said the organization on Tuesday, Jan. 27, reached its goal of raising $1 million to meet a fund-raising challenge put forth late last year by the Works of Grace Foundation, a Texas-based nonprofit organization.

The foundation—which promotes family and children’s programs in Idaho and Texas—pledged in December 2003 to give a $1 million matching gift to the YMCA if the Ketchum-based organization could raise $1 million in new donations by Feb. 1, 2004.

Wolter said the YMCA surpassed the goal set by the foundation, raising $1.1 million in approximately seven weeks.

By reaching the goal, the YMCA not only qualified to receive $1 million from the Works of Grace Foundation, but also became eligible for an additional $3 million grant from the city of Ketchum.

The city has pledged a grant of $3 million to match the first $3 million raised for the project. The city grant, which would come from local-option tax revenues, is subject to voter approval.

With $1.5 million in its reserves from previous fund-raising activities, the earnings from the Works of Grace campaign give the YMCA a total of $3.6 million for the long-standing project.

If the city grant is approved, the organization will have raised $6.6 million toward the estimated $16 million project cost.

Cynthia Murphy, chairwoman of the Wood River Community YMCA board of directors, said it is "remarkable" that the YMCA was able to meet the fund-raising challenge.

"We cannot thank the Works of Grace Foundation and the entire valley community enough for their unparalleled generosity," she said.

The proposed 95,000-square-foot recreational facility—which was formerly called the Bill Janss Community Center—would be located on the city of Ketchum’s Park-and-Ride Lot, north of downtown. It would include an ice rink that converts to an events center, two swimming pools, a fitness center and a climbing wall.

The estimated $16 million cost of the new YMCA includes approximately $12 million in so-called "hard costs" to pay for construction of the facility and $4 million in "soft costs," which include design work, engineering, fees, contingency costs and a $1 million operating reserve.

 

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