The long wait for the reopening of the Michigan City Family YMCA pool is over, and just in time for the official start of the summer season. The YMCA celebrated the reopening of the pool this week with a bang - by hosting a community cookout and an attempt at a world record for world’s largest swim lesson.
“The World’s Largest Swim Lesson is an event that was created with the goal of setting a Guinness World Record for most people getting a swimming lesson at one time,” said Cindy Berchem, Chief Executive Officer of La Porte County Family YMCA. “While we are doing this here in our city, we also are doing the same thing in La Porte and in YMCAs and rec centers all over the world.”
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Berchem said that the goal is to promote water safety.
“Being so close to the lake, we feel that it’s important to teach water safety to the kids, so they understand what to do if they fall in the water, or if they see a friend fall in the water, they will have some survival tips that could help them save a life - theirs or someone else’s.”
In addition to today’s event, Berchem said that every week during the summer they host different agencies from throughout the city, who come in for three and a half hours to learn water safety.
“Groups like Imagination Station, the Boys and Girls Club of Michigan City, Safe Harbor, Michigan City Parks & Rec and Barker Woods. One day a week is dedicated to each of those groups. They come here and they receive water survival and basic swim tips in a six-week program, which impact about 600 children a week, trying to get this important message out there,” said Berchem.
The pool has been down since last August and needed vital improvements to make it safe and bring it up to date.
“If it were not for the support of the school corporation, we would not have been able to reopen the pool. There were some issues with the ceramic wall, as well as the pool lining. Also - the walls were reinforced with stainless steel edging, so we essentially have an entirely new pool now,” said Berchem. “This entire YMCA is done in partnership with Michigan City schools. Today is really a celebration of many things: the partnership between the YMCA and Michigan City schools, the endowment fund made possible by 1st Source Bank, the Largest Swim and of course, the reopening of the pool.”
Matt Vessely, Regional President for the west region of 1st Source Bank, which includes La Porte and Porter counties was proud to be on hand to see the pool reopening.
“This is a tremendous event. The pool is a vital asset to the community. The YMCA had the opportunity to come here and repurpose this building a few years ago. The pool here was a main asset to them, but it had some issues that needed to be addressed. With the cooperation of the local schools, they were able to get those issues taken care of and get this pool back online and available for use. We’re happy to be here today to help celebrate the reopening of the pool and to help support the cookout and to witness this world’s largest swim lesson. This organization, the YMCA, is important of the community,” said Vessely. Repairs to the pool and building were aided by a grant to the YMCA from 1st Source Bank.
“A little over a year ago, 1st Source Bank, through its 1st Source Foundation, approved a $75,000 grant, specifically for the purpose of establishing a fund to serve and support the maintenance needs of this building for the long haul,” said Vessely. “This is a somewhat older building, and from time to time, it will have some problems which would need to be addressed, and we wanted to make sure that the Y would have that backdrop of support to be able to fund those needs over time. The grant is payable in three separate $25,000 grants, over the course of three years.”
These are matching grants, which means that the YMCA would need to raise a matching amount to be able to access those funds.
“The Y was able to successfully do that. They have raised matching funds for the last two years. This is the last year, so they are now out, trying to raise money during this year to be able to access the last part of that grant. When all is said and done, based on the matches, we should have about $225,000 set aside to care for this facility,” said Vessely.
The building housing the YMCA is still owned by the Michigan City School system. The YMCA rents the space out, and worked in conjunction with the school corporation to make the needed repairs to the pool.
Ben Fout, Marketing/Community Connections Director for the Michigan City YMCA was impressed with the community support for the new pool
“I think this is a great thing for the community. We had well over a hundred people who came out here to swim with us today. We had a great turnout for this event,” said Fout.
Tracy Wilkins, Michigan City resident was one of those many local residents who came to the day’s events with several children - both her’s and her neighbor’s - and couldn’t have been happier with the new facilities.
“I was probably one of the most anxious ones waiting for the pool to come back to life,” said Wilkins. “Swimming is one of my favorite forms of exercise. It is the best form of exercise, in my opinion. I love it, my girls love it. We can some here, it’s conveniently located. We can drive here and have fun. The new pool is amazing - so fresh and clean!” said Wilkins.
“The pool is a big draw for us, for the YMCA,” said Berchem. “Come by and visit the Y! If you’re not familiar with what the Y has to offer, we have free, one-week passes that we would be happy to share with folks so they can come in and see what we have to offer.”
The Michigan City YMCA is located at 1202 Spring St, Door K, Michigan City, Indiana. You can visit them on the web at http://lpymca.org/
