"Sky Unlimited of Nicholasville, they came up with a huge $250,000 donation, and we've had great support from the fiscal court and other members of the community," Ball added.
The game plan remains the same for the Y, which will be located at Riney B Park off U.S. 27 on land that was donated by the Nicholasville City Commission and Jessamine County Fiscal Court.
"It's a $10 million facility, and everything in the original unveiling is what we're shooting for," Ball said.
The new YMCA will be a 52,000 square-foot facility, 45,000 to 47,000 square feet of which will be usable space.
"But when you actually look at the footprint of the amount of space it will take up, it will be around 52,000 square feet," he added.
The facility will include a gymnasium, swimming pool, locker room, a training room with free weights and other equipment, as well as areas for youth and teens. The new Y will also sport an over-sized kitchen and community rooms.
Groundbreaking for the facility is scheduled for sometime in the spring 2009 and an opening date in the spring of 2010.
Funding the new Y
Ball said funding for the new facility has been the biggest hurdle to cross.
"When you look at the number, you say $6.5 (million) is an awful lot of money, but the $3.5 (million) that we've raised so far has only been through the generosity of a few people or a few organizations," Ball said. "It hasn't been hundreds and hundreds of people that's made up that $3.5 (million). The list of names that make up that $3.5 (million) is probably about 15 to 20 names."
Ball said some people might feel that any donations or commitment to funding the YMCA would have to be paid in full up front, and that's not the case.
"One of the things about the giving, a lot of people will sit there and say, 'Wow, I'd like to give, but I can only give this (amount),'" he said. "This is a planned giving. This isn't a situation where if you want to give X amount of dollars, that we're expecting it right now. This can be a three-year commitment, a five-year commitment, even in some situations, a 10 or 15-year commitment. When you start explaining it to people that way, even someone like myself, just planned giving can do something substantial for our community."
The current YMCA building, located on Maple Street, has been serving as the headquarters for the Jessamine County YMCA since the mid-1970s.
To download a PDF copy of an artist's rendition of what the new YMCA facility will look like, click here.
