From staff reports
After months of fundraising efforts, construction of the new $11.6 million YMCA facility in Clarion County is about to begin.
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Friday.
The ceremony, which is not open to the public, will be attended by YMCA staff members, government officials who have been instrumental in the project and donors who have provided most of the funding to cover the cost for the building project.
The 35,000-square-foot facility will be built on a 6.5-acre plot of land adjacent to the Clarion Oaks Golf Course near Interstate 80.
The building project has been in the works for several years and was formally approved by the Clarion County Planning Commission in 2015.
Once started, the construction work is expected to take 12 to 15 months to complete.
The enormous fundraising campaign has netted $7.5 million in gifts from community members and businesses. An additional $3 million was awarded to the project through a grant from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.
The new facility will include a family warm-water pool that will be used to provide lap lanes, recreation and exercise, swimming lessons, aqua aerobics classes and other activities. A rehabilitation partnership will offer warm-water therapy programs.
A full-service fitness center, gymnasium, walking track and athletic field also will be featured at the new facility. There will be space for administrative offices as well as conference rooms, work stations and a kitchen.
The Clarion County YMCA has served the community for 17 years at its current location along Route 322, but its 10,000 square feet of space can no longer meet the needs of the Y’s growing membership.
The current and new facility are part of the Scenic Rivers YMCA, which includes the Oil City YMCA, Clarion County YMCA and Camp Coffman.
The association is governed by the Scenic Rivers YMCA corporate board of directors and the Clarion County YMCA board of managers.