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Image of the Ottawa YMCA project, provided July 27, 2021

Top stories of 2021: Ottawa YMCA building project gets closer

By Billy Thompson Dec 26, 2021 | 5:42 AM

The Ottawa YMCA is in the fundraising phase where it’s asking for small donations to finish raising the $24 million estimated cost for a new building. Bigger amounts were still being lined up from other sources when the year began. The estimated cost then was $20 million, but material prices rose.

Recapping one of our top stories of the year, John Walker from the Cora J. Pope Trust announced a $500,000 donation to the project back in April. The Cora J. Pope Presbyterian Commons will be named in her honor.

Walker says the contribution will help older people who use the Y’s services. Cora J. Pope willed her home to be used as a home for older women who would otherwise be alone.

Plumber Larry Kiest of LMK Pipe Renewal gave $500,000. He says when he thinks of the Y, he thinks of family and swimming there when he was a child.

He says he worked on the plumbing beneath the current Y’s pool early in his career. Later, he learned to dive at the Y before starting a job that required the skill.

The new Y will be built on the former Central School track site behind the Knights of Columbus. After years of lining up big donations and funds from state and federal sources, YMCA Director Joe Capece is overseeing the final fundraising push. Volunteer fundraisers are asking regular people to donate.

Groundbreaking is expected in the spring. Construction will take until the summer or fall of 2023.