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YMCA reaches goal for track cost
BY JORDAN COHEN
WARREN
The Warren-Trumbull YMCA has reached its fundraising goal of $12,000 as its share of the cost for a new overhead track above its gymnasium.
The track will replace the original track built in 1963. Work is scheduled to begin later this week.
“We’re really pleased with the time line that we had for raising the money, and now we’re ready to go,” said Wendy Marvin, the facility’s executive director.
The actual cost of the track is nearly $22,000, but the YMCA received a boost last May when the Mahoning Valley Sports Charities Fund of the Youngstown Foundation awarded it a grant of $10,000. However the grant was contingent upon the facility’s securing the $12,000 balance within a year.
The YMCA was able to raise its share in three months. “Other than the Sports Charities Fund, we did not have to go to other foundations for the rest of the money,” Marvin said. “It was all raised from contributions by the general membership.
The director revealed that two members who asked to remain anonymous provided the final boost.
“One member came to me and said that if we were close, he and another member would split the difference and get us over the top,” she said. The two members contributed $1,000 each.
Marvin also said that the actual costs are below the original estimates, leaving the YMCA with enough money to paint the gymnasium. She said that the contractors, U.S. Floor Service, Columbia Station, and MPS Painting, Warren, agreed to substantial discounts that brought the projects in under budget. The director expects the new track to be completed by early September.
The 47-year old track, located above the second-floor basketball court, was built by volunteers at a cost of $700. It has been deteriorating and its original cork and linoleum flooring has peeled. The entire 1,600-foot surface will be recovered.