Caroline YMCA breaks ground
Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 3:19 pm
By Tim Cox/Editor
LADYSMITH – A small group of Caroline County and regional YMCA officials gathered to hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Caroline YMCA.
“It’s been long coming,” Supervisor Wayne Acors told the gathering of 35-40 people Sunday afternoon near Ladysmith Village.
Acors, who spearheaded the effort to bring the YMCA to Caroline, thanked the other members of the Board of Supervisors. “We’ve worked together to make this happen,” he said.
“I know there were times when I didn’t think it would happen,” he added.
The group also heard from board chairman Floyd Thomas and Bernard Reiley, executive director of the Rappahannock YMCA. After the remarks, officials walked a short distance to the building site and used spotless shovels to hoist a little ceremonial dirt and pose for photographs. Afterward they retired to the Ladysmith Village clubhouse for light refreshments. \
Joining Acors and Thomas at the event were fellow Supervisor Reggie Underwood and also Calvin Taylor, who will take office in January.
The YMCA will be located on a 10-acre site on Durrette Road adjacent to Ladysmith Village. Newland Communities, developers of Ladysmith Village, donated the land.
The 41,000-square-foot facility will feature a gym, fitness center and an aquatic center with two pools. Construction is expected to begin in January or February and will take about 10-12 months.
The project will cost about $5 million. The Caroline County Board of Supervisors earlier approved interim financing for the project, but a capital campaign being led by Acors and the YMCA will raise funds to pay for the YMCA along with proffers from Ladysmith Village. Union Bank donated $175,000 to help launch he drive.
Acors reminded those assembled that no taxpayer funds will be used on the building project. “We have to work,” he said, to raise the funds to retire the debt, “which we will do.”
“Together…we’re going to do something for the people of Caroline County,” said Thomas. To naysayers who say the county offers little in the way of social amenities, Thomas said, “We’re finally going to have something to do.” The YMCA programs will appeal to a broad spectrum of people, he suggested, both young and old.
“I promise you, it will be a success,” said Reiley. He suggested that the Caroline YMCA will be similar to the King George YMCA and become a focal point of the community that will enhance community nonprofit organizations.
The supervisors “care about enhancing the quality of life” for Caroline citizens, said Reiley.
The capital campaign will take two or three years, but the majority of the funds will be raised within the first 18 months, Reiley said later.
The regional YMCA organization will seek to help Caroline form a steering committee in early 2012 that eventually lead to the establishment of a board of directors for the new Caroline YMCA.
