YMCA fundraising has been slow going

The state-of-the-art YMCA in Palm Harbor would cost $5.5-million. So far about $1.5-million has been raised.

By ROBERT FARLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 20, 2001

PALM HARBOR -- The YMCA's first foray into upper Pinellas County was a day camp in Palm Harbor in 1957.

Now, 44 years later, the YMCA of the Suncoast is planning a much larger commitment to Palm Harbor with a state-of-the-art YMCA next to the Palm Harbor Senior Activity Center.

The project has been on the drawing board for more than three years. And after the county accepted the YMCA's bid to buy 8.5 acres on 16th Street for the new YMCA in December, some YMCA officials projected a groundbreaking as soon as last month.

That turned out to be overly optimistic. Money remains the biggest hurdle.

The total project is expected to cost $5.5-million. The fundraising campaign got a huge boost with a $1-million donation from prominent eye surgeon James Gills and his wife, Heather. So far, the campaign has secured pledges for nearly $500,000 more.

That's a good start, said Scott Goyer, president and CEO of YMCA of the Suncoast. But it will take another $1-million in donations before a spade hits the ground, he said.

"YMCAs don't just happen in communities," Goyer told about 25 people who gathered at Palm Harbor University High School last week for a presentation on plans for the new YMCA.

Goyer's pitch was as much about the history of the YMCA as the specific plan for the Palm Harbor YMCA. He handed out Frisbees, mugs and other trinkets for correct answers to YMCA trivia questions such as: Where was the first YMCA in this country opened? (Answer: in Boston 150 years ago.)

There are now 2,400 YMCA branches nationwide, serving 17.5-million people, Goyer said.

"The genius of the YMCA, I believe, is that it is community-based," he said.

Through the years, he said, YMCAs have changed to "rise to meet the needs of the community." For example, he said, YMCAs now offer more after-school child care than any other provider. Twenty years ago, that's not something the YMCA did.

The proposal for the Palm Harbor YMCA was originated by swim boosters for the Palm Harbor University High School swim team. Members of the high school's swim team now practice and hold competitions at Clearwater High School's pool 10 miles away. Led by former swim team parent Mike Doyle, the boosters approached the YMCA to manage a pool. Since then, the plan grew into a proposal for a full-scale YMCA.

At the presentation this week, Doyle said the fundraising will hinge on support from the entire community.

"There are very few Dr. Gills who can write a check for $1-million, but the rest of us can still leave a lasting legacy," Doyle said.

The YMCA's plan was backed by a market study, which concluded that the response from the community was, "We will come," Goyer said.

The fundraising has taken longer, Goyer said, because there was not a lot of work done in previous years to develop a relationship with people in the community before asking them for money. In addition, Goyer said, there has not been much history in Palm Harbor of capital development projects, other than churches, financed by the community.

"We're forging new ground," Goyer said.

"We're very pleased with the level of support we've received," Goyer said. "We're pushing forward. We're committed to doing this project. There is no doubt in my mind we will be able to raise the money in the community."

Once it raises $2.5-million, the YMCA will begin with the first phase of development, Goyer said. That will include the aquatic center, a teen activity area, a children's play area and a family wellness center. The outdoor aquatic center would include two pools to provide competitive swimming lanes, diving boards, two water slides, an interactive family water activity area and a zero-depth entry area. The aquatic center would take six to nine months to build.

Other plans include multipurpose space, an aerobics center, fitness center, a full-size gymnasium and an indoor, multilevel children's play center.

The project has been complicated by delays in the purchase of land from the county. The county has already accepted the YMCA's bid of $400,000 for the property. But when the senior center was built, that property and the adjacent property under agreement of sale to the YMCA was restricted to use by seniors. In order to use the property for a YMCA, state officials will need to change that restriction, Goyer said.

Goyer's presentation this week was capped by a brief video outlining the history of the project to date and drawings of the proposed facility. The Palm Harbor YMCA would be modeled after the James Gills YMCA that opened in Trinity in West Pasco County in April 1998.

In the video, Lew Friedland, who heads the YMCA fundraising effort, exhorts the community to get behind the project.

"Only working together can we make this work," Friedland said.

-- Staff writer Robert Farley can be reached at (727) 445-4185.

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