Twenty Years After Opening, Mills County YMCA Continues To Serve, Benefit Community

The Mills County YMCA marked a milestone anniversary last week with a community open house.

Built at a cost of $4.7 million, the facility opened its doors to the greater Glenwood and Mills County community in June 2006.

“Where did the time go,” asked  Mills County Executive Director Diana Burchett?

Burchett has been employed at the facility since Day 1, initially hired as an aquatic, wellness and health director. She’s been the executive director for 17 years.

Friday morning’s open house included recognition of some volunteers that organized the Southwest Iowa Community Betterment Association, a non-profit group that worked for more than a decade to bring the wellness and recreation facility to Glenwood. Lu Peverill and Larry Raabe recalled the initial Saturday morning meetings that took place in 1994 in the basement of the former Mills County State Bank.

Raabe noted that during some early discussions with officials from the YMCA of Greater Omaha, the group was told the process would take 10 years. In between those initial discussions and the opening of the YMCA more than a decade later, SWICBA initiated the hiring of a city recreation director and a first-of-its-kind share/lease agreement with the State Of Iowa for use of the National Guard Armory as a community center. The Glenwood National Guard Unit was still active when the community center opened in 1999.

In 2001, voters in Glenwood, Pacific Junction and rural areas of Mills County passed a 1-cent local option sales tax that would be earmarked primarily for a recreation center. The sales tax was the local commitment Vision Iowa, an organization in charge of distributing state gambling revenue, needed to see. Two weeks after the sales tax went into effect on Jan. 1, 2002, a delegation from Glenwood went to Des Moines to learn the city had been awarded a $1.3 million Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant from Vision Iowa for construction of a community center.

The CAT grant was a catalyst for a major capital campaign. Other grants and donations began falling into place and later that year the City Of Glenwood began discussions with the YMCA of Greater Omaha concerning the operation and management of the proposed community center.

In 2004, after the Glenwood National Guard unit had been dissolved, the state gifted the armory and land to the City of Glenwood. Ground-breaking for the new facility took place in May 2005 and on June 12, 2006, the Mills County YMCA opened under management of the YMCA.

“We’re owned by the city and managed by the Y,” Burchett noted. “We’re so very fortunate to have that because the city has funded repairs.”

Through the use of the local option sales tax revenue, the city has funded multiple repairs and improvements at the facility over the past 20 years, including a new pool pack unit for air control, hot water heaters and new floors in the gymnasium and pool. Equipment in the fitness room was updated with the help of a grant from the state for rural YMCAs.

Programming at the Mills County YMCA hasn’t changed much over the past 20 years – fitness,  exercise classes, swimming and swim lessons, youth sports, children’s activities and summer day camps. Membership numbers fluctuate, but have remained fairly stable over the years.

The YMCA currently has 1,582 combined membership units serving over 3,000 people.

“One thing we have here that I suppose other gyms don’t have is our scholarship program – our Strong Communities program,” said Burchett. “This year, our goal is raise $58,900 and we have $912 to go. We’re getting there.”
Strong Communities provides scholarships for both YMCA programming and memberships to Mills County families.

In addition to its regular programming, the Mills County YMCA is engaged in the Glenwood community, coordinating the annual Square Crow Day and Easter Egg Hunt at Glenwood Lake Park and hosting Breakfast With Santa every December. The YMCA has also been an overnight camping and shower site for RAGBRAI and has served as a climate-controlled shelter during weather-related events and natural disasters.

In addition to its own facility, the YMCA is also in charge of management of the Glenwood Aquatic Center, which is currently closed.

“We’re hoping in a couple years to get that back,” said Burchett. “The city really needs that back.”

Burchett added that the YMCA building is well-maintained and will continue to serve Glenwood and Mills County for another 20 years and beyond.

“Whoever takes it over will keep it humming along,” she said.