YMCA of Lincoln Nebraska

News Article

Schoo Middle School to share ground with YMCA

BY JODI FUSON
Lincoln Journal Star
Monday, August 6, 2007

Northwest Lincoln soon will get two things the growing area can really use -- a YMCA and a new middle school.

Lincoln Public Schools' Schoo Middle School and the YMCA will share an attached facility in the Fallbrook subdivision near North 14th Street and Alvo Road -- a first for Lincoln and the state of Nebraska, according to Barb Bettin, president and chief executive officer of Lincoln YMCAs.

"It's really a new model for all of us," Bettin said.

"It maximizes funding, reduces duplication and provides affordable opportunities for people."

The YMCA will have its own distinct entrance above the school.

"The building kind of flows with the terrain," said Scott Wieskamp, LPS director of facilities and maintenance. "It allows a separate identity for each building."

The 210,000-square-foot building will slope downhill some 50 feet. Ball and soccer fields, as well as bike trails, will surround the school, giving it a parklike atmosphere.

A shortage of members isn't expected when the YMCA opens in the spring of 2009. Bettin said a YMCA feasibility study completed in 2003 confirmed that more than 2,000 households would purchase memberships if a new facility was built in northwest Lincoln.

Ongoing collaborative efforts citywide to share recreational facilities gave the plan more momentum. In 2004, Bettin helped draft a Joint Recreation Planning report for recreational uses in Lincoln, along with representatives from LPS, Lincoln Parks and Recreation and the City Planning Department.

Then Bettin was asked to serve on the task force that made recommendations for the school bond issue. When Bettin found out LPS wanted to build a school in Fallbrook, she and LPS administrators began collaborating. Fallbrook developer NEBCO also encouraged the YMCA to build in the subdivision.

"We knew the concept of building a community school would work," Bettin said.

The YMCA has successfully completed similar projects in other states.

Denny Van Horn, LPS associate superintendent for business affairs, said the district already was working with parks and recreation to see how the two entities could collaborate, possibly to build a recreation center in conjunction with the school. When that didn't go through, he didn't see why something couldn't work with the Y.

"The Y has been such an excellent partner with us on so many projects," VanHorn said.

The YMCA uses LPS space for after-school programming and youth sports and operates two community learning centers, one at Elliott Elementary and one at Lefler Middle School.

The district was able to secure enough land -- about 32 acres in the Fallbrook residential subdivision -- for a joint-build plan to work. The YMCA expects to break ground yet this fall because it has raised nearly half of the $8 million needed to build and furnish the facility, Bettin said.

The rest of the funding will come from membership fees, private donations and grants.

Fallbrook YMCA will occupy 50,000 square feet on the LPS site and will lease the land it sits on. The facility will be similar to the Cooper YMCA built in southwest Lincoln and will include a shallow-depth entry pool and lap pool, gymnasium, cardio workout area, exercise studios, childwatch/preschool rooms and a lounge.

Schoo Middle School and the YMCA will share some spaces, including three gyms, locker rooms and some classrooms on the end of the school closest to the YMCA and the pool area.

"We built a schedule for every space," said Wieskamp of LPS. "The shared spaces led us to more out-of-the-box thinking."

The YMCA plans to offer summer programming for elementary and middle schoolers as well as after-school clubs for middle school students.

Bettin would like to see a Community Learning Center similar to the one it already operates at Lefler Middle School established, too.

The YMCA and LPS are planning a joint ground-breaking.

Reach Jodi Fuson at 473-7211 or homeroom@journalstar.com.

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