The weather was miserable Monday at midday, as various Island dignitaries gathered on a newly graded lot next to the Martha's Vineyard Arena for the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new YMCA facility. Board members, staffers, town officials, and others shivered as they huddled under a small tent, marginally protected from the rain.
But spirits were bright, and optimism off the charts, as many who toiled to plan and raise money for the new building grabbed shovels in anticipation of turning over the first ceremonial spade of dirt. It took a lot of people to get to the moment. There were enough hard hats. There was a shortage of shovels.
Chuck Hughes, president of the YMCA board of directors, asked the assembled crowd, "Don't you like the liquid sunshine?"
"This is a building," said Mr. Hughes. "All we're going to do is start the bricks. It's the people and programs that are going to make the building what it is intended to be."
School superintendent James Weiss used characteristic good humor to illustrate how much Martha's Vineyard Regional High School students are anticipating the competition length pool and connecting family pool planned for the new aquatic center. "We look forward to the first starter's pistol for our swim team," he said to a hearty round of hometown cheers. "We look forward to the day when our students can say 'we live on an Island, and we can swim off if we have to.'"
A hearty group of Island dignitaries help break ground for the new YMCA building project across the Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road from Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. Photo by Steve Myrick
The YMCA is leasing its five-acre site from the regional high school. In lieu of rent, the high school will receive 356 pool hours per year. At an estimated cost of $175 per pool hour, the rent amounts to a total of $62,300 annually.
"The 'Y' will not just be a neighbor to Oak Bluffs," said town selectman Duncan Ross, "but a neighbor to the Island community."
State Senator Robert O'Leary, State Representative Tim Madden, and Congressman William Delahunt sent good wishes through Martha's Vineyard legislative liaison Nell Coogan.
"You have reached this milestone through shear determination and hard work," wrote Rep. Delahunt in a letter of congratulation. "Be proud of this moment, you've earned it."
Construction calendar
Executive director John Clese said the contractor, Metric Construction Corporation, is committed to an aggressive building schedule.
YMCA officials say an aggressive building schedule calls for concrete foundations to be poured this week, with steel structure rising by the 4th of July.
Phase 1 of the project will include the indoor aquatic center, a wellness center with an adjoining dance/aerobics studio, a teen center, a child watch area, an outdoor play and camp area, a café, and administrative offices.
"The plan is to be done in 10 to 11 months," said Mr. Clese. He said the company will be pouring concrete foundations by the end of this week, and expects to begin the steel framework in July. Metric Construction has been involved in a variety of large scale public and private building projects, including The Field Club and The Boathouse in Edgartown, as well YMCA building projects elsewhere in Massachusetts. Metric Construction CEO Jeff Caraboolad and his wife Nancy, who grew up on Martha's Vineyard, are seasonal residents of Edgartown.
Fundraising for the $11.5 million building project has been a "long, hard road," according to Mr. Hughes. He said the YMCA has money and pledges in hand to cover the entire cost of the project's first phase. Part of that commitment is finalization of a $1.5 million loan from an as yet unnamed Island bank. Also part of the commitment is a $2 million bequest from an unnamed donor, which is not intended for construction. The organization also hopes to raise $650,000 in funds for operating expenses, ready for the day when the YMCA opens its doors.
The YMCA will continue to raise funds through the summer, with a goal of $2 million for its 2009 capital campaign. The organization hopes to far exceed its fundraising goal, in order to finance an expansion of the planned teen center, and construction of a gymnasium and elevated track. Mr. Hughes said it will not be an easy task, but he is confident of success.
"By starting the project, it's going to be as easy as it can be in these difficult economic times," Mr. Hughes said. "If we waited another summer without starting, it would have been tougher. People are going to make contributions to an organization where they can see progress is being made."
The building project went through an extensive review process before the Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC). Among the conditions imposed by the Martha's Vineyard Commission were restrictions on the amount of nitrogen the building releases through wastewater disposal. The building lies within the Lagoon Pond watershed, which falls under strict nitrogen loading limits included in the Martha's Vineyard Commission's current water quality policy. It's estimated the building will produce 1,000 gallons of wastewater daily.
The town of Oak Bluffs is currently under a sewer hookup moratorium, because of a state order to correct problems with the leeching fields under Ocean Park. The town is moving forward with plans to develop land next to the wastewater treatment plant known as the Leonardo property, which should substantially expand its capacity. While the expansion is not likely to be completed by the time the YMCA is scheduled to open next summer, wastewater plant manager Joe Alosso is confident that the permitting and construction will be far enough along so that the moratorium can be loosened, and the new building can be tied in to the town's sewer system.
