It was easy for Ron and Nadean Ross to donate $1 million to the Silverdale YMCA.
“What we’re doing is taking the kids’ inheritance,” Ron said with a laugh.
The Silverdale couple recently pledged $1 million toward the new YMCA and had the honor of unveiling the “Future Home of YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties” sign June 19 at the Central Kitsap Community Campus site on Randall Way.
“Our mission is to bring a YMCA to everyone,” YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County President Bob Ecklund said. “My vision is to have a place where everyone can come together — young and old, rich and poor, all backgrounds.”
The YMCA is the first part of the Central Kitsap Community Campus which is slated to include a performing arts center, library and senior housing.
“Frankly, folks in the Silverdale-Central Kitsap community have been working on this community campus for 10 years,” Central Kitsap Commissioner Josh Brown said.
The Silverdale YMCA will be 50,000-70,000 square feet and include an aquatic center, fitness area, teen center, gym and racquetball courts.
The facility will cost between $15 and $18 million to build. The YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County and Kitsap County will each contribute $5 million to the project and the remaining funds will be financed by the YMCA.
The Ross family’s $1 million pledge marked the first private pledge for the proposed facility.
“We consider ourselves very lucky to have an opportunity to support this building,” Nadean said.
“The community’s been good to us and it’s a pleasure for us to give back,” Ron added.
Ecklund said monetary donations are what will continue to push the Silverdale YMCA forward and encouraged people to donate at the sign-raising celebration June 19.
“You are the pioneers that take it from the field it is to the field of dreams come true,” he said. “It’s an investment that will pay dividends forever.”
YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County plans to hire an architect for the Silverdale facility by January 2010, break ground July 2010 and open the facility at the end of 2011.
“We look forward to making this a reality,” Brown said. “We hope this will be a home to a YMCA for 100 years.”
