By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
After going back and forth and after it nearly appeared to be off, it seems the City of St. Joseph and the YMCA will enter a partnership to build a new indoor Aquatic Center.
St. Joseph City Manager, Mike Schumacher, says that under the agreement, the city will provide $7 million with the YMCA raising $8 million to build the facility at new YMCA headquarters, 3601 North Village Drive.
It’s a good deal for the city, according to Schumacher.
“For us to build an indoor facility like that is estimated at $30 to 35 million,” Schumacher tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “That’s $30 to 35 million we really don’t have even if you take the 7 million going to the Y off of it.”
The St. Joseph City Council has given preliminary approval to the cost-share. It will take up the measure for final consideration later this month.
Schumacher says the agreement is a bargain for an indoor pool that would could cost the city much more to build on its own.
“Any public facility is incredibly expensive and then you add water and pumps and filters and chemicals and everything that goes with it; they’re incredibly expensive,” according to Schumacher. “The ongoing operating costs is another piece of that.”
The YMCA proposed the project with the city, but hit a funding snag. A last-minute push gave the Y enough money to complete the project in partnership with the city.
Schumacher says that if the city attempted to build a new pool on its own, it would have cost a lot upfront and would have added an annual expense to the city it doesn’t need.
“It isn’t you build it and you’re done,” Schumacher says. “It’s something that’s going to cost you money for the rest of time.”
Under the agreement, the Aquatic Center would be open to the public with daily admission not to succeed $8 unless approved by the city. Public transportation will be made available to the pool. The city has agreed to pay $270,000 in annual operating costs.
The city pool at the St. Joseph Aquatic Park failed in 2019.
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