Favorable auspices for valley recreation poured down from the sky Friday.
Nearly 100 people gathered at the Park & Ride lot at the corner of Warm Springs and Saddle roads in Ketchum for a groundbreaking of the Wood River Community YMCA.
"We couldn't have asked for a more appropriate day of the year: the first snow day," said Cynthia Murphy, chairwoman of the Wood River Community YMCA board of directors.
Hot cocoa and hot dogs helped warm attendees' hands, while YMCA backers handed out black and red winter hats with the organization's logo.
Celebrants toasted the ceremonial start to the construction of an 84,000-square-foot recreational complex, which received final approval from the Ketchum City Council in September.
Almost on cue, the snow stopped and the sky cleared while YMCA supporters and city officials took the stage.
"The YMCA has a long and stellar history ... it's a proud history," Mayor Ed Simon told the crowd. "This has been a long and sometimes bitter battle. The battle is over. It's time to start working together ... to fulfill that mission statement: to build strong communities."
Ketchum City Council President Randy Hall was also on hand to offer accolades to Y supporters.
"I see this as a fulfillment of a city dream," he said. "A lot of people pulled together to buy this land. The community came out to support this. Thanks for all your help to see this dream come true."
Benjamin Wood, co-manager of the YMCA's capital campaign, said fund-raisers are close to reaching their goal of $16 million.
"We have in committed pledges just under $11 million," he said. "We're doing really well."
Other sources have been asked for $4 million, leaving $1 million that Wood hopes the community will contribute.
"For the past year and a half we've focused on specific individuals," he added. "Now, we're going back to the community. That's so important because the community is the one who owns the Y. People need to support it on some level ... commensurate with ability, (be it) money, time or verbal advocacy. Not everyone has money to give away, but it's nice to invest (somehow)."
He said people have devised ways, such as house parties, to raise funds on a grass-roots level.
"There's great receptivity for the cause," he said. "There's broad community support."
Last November, Ketchum voters approved a city proposal to lease to the YMCA approximately one-quarter of the city-owned Park and Ride lot.
The YMCA will pay $1 per year over the 99-year lease period. The YMCA complex is designed to include an ice rink, two swimming pools, a climbing gym and numerous other facilities.
A voter-approved general obligation bond allowed the city to buy the lot in 1989.
YMCA fund-raisers hope to close the capital campaign by spring, Wood said.
Construction is set to formally begin in spring and is expected to take between 12 and 18 months.
A grand opening is planned for 2007.
Fundraisers, board members and management of the Wood River Community YMCA break ground in a ceremonial event at the Park & Ride lot Friday afternoon. Formal construction is scheduled to begin in spring and should take between 12 and 18 months. Photo by Willy Cook
