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closeSumner searching for partnerships for YMCA
Neil Pierson
With more than 22,000 members, the South Hill branch of the Tacoma-Pierce County YMCA is naturally looking for room to grow.
Roughly 8 percent of its membership, or more than 1,700 people, commute from the Sumner and Bonney Lake areas to use the facilities. That number alone is a reason the two cities are making a push to build their own YMCA in the not-too-distant future.
Sumner City Administrator John Doan said last week that while Bonney Lake looks into funding options with a number of private partners, Sumner is trying to gauge the interest of some public entities, namely the Pierce County Library System, Puyallup School District and Pierce College-Puyallup.
The county YMCA recently completed a market study of 888 households in the cities of Sumner and Bonney Lake. The results, which came from a diverse spectrum of economic levels and age groups, showed a few popular ideas, Doan noted.
Perhaps the biggest thing local residents would like to see in a new YMCA is a swimming pool, which could host several types of classes from beginning swimming lessons to therapy sessions. Other common themes included cardiovascular exercise equipment, free weights and women’s-only exercise classes.
“There’s all sorts of spin-offs of each of those,” Doan said.
A few potential locations have been targeted in Sumner and Bonney Lake, with the former QFC grocery store in Sumner being perhaps the most likely spot. The 40,000-square foot facility on East Main Street has more than enough room, is easily accessible from State Route 410 and the site has additional acreage that could prove attractive to potential neighbors.
“Given what we needed today, it is probably the best (location),” Doan said. “It’s got some space, it’s got a good location and it’s relatively easy to get to. As we redevelop Main Street, it almost acts like an anchor.”
The Sumner Community Center Task Force, which formed last fall, is helping to lead the fundraising efforts. The next phase, led by Triangle2 research consulting company, is to find funding options that will determine the size and scope of any project.
Results of that study likely won’t be available until the end of the year.
Dr. Tana Hasart, president of Pierce College, said Sumner approached her about getting involved. Right now, Hasart and her representatives simply want to stay in touch and be part of any future discussions.
“One of the strands they’re considering is whether there should be some kind of educational component,” Hasart said. “It may be our needs are best met by staying here on campus.”
One option that’s on the table is moving some the college’s Running Start classes to the new YMCA. Nearly 25 percent of Pierce’s student body is Running Start – high school students earning college credit – and Hasart thinks that percentage may rise.
“We believe, with the downturn in the economy, we may see more increases in those numbers,” she said. “Running Start, for those students who are ready, is a really good choice.”
Neel Parikh, executive director of Pierce County Library Systems, said her organization is having preliminary conversations with Doan and the YMCA. The libraries are beginning work on a capital facilities master plan, which could include some joint-use possibilities.
“This is indeed the type of thing we’ll be looking at,” Parikh said. “We’re always looking for partnerships, and this might be a really good one.”
The county system already runs the 10,600-square foot Sumner library, which was last renovated in 1995. Parikh said the libraries are taking public input from Sumner residents on what they’d like to see, and expects a regional meeting to take place in early 2009. More should be known at that point about monetary concerns.
“From the library perspective, we are hearing from our public that they are interested in educational opportunities,” Parikh said. “Of course, we can’t do anything without funding.”
Doan said it’s still early in the game, and understands everyone from the libraries, school district and college will need more time and information before committing.
“If there’s a sufficient fundraising capacity…then great,” Doan said. “And maybe if there isn’t, then maybe we need to go to plan B.”