As with an Olympic marathon, the Skagit Valley Family YMCA fundraising drive is looking for a strong finishing kick as it nears the finish line.

The latest strides in a campaign to build a modern YMCA facility near the Skagit Valley College campus were taken in La Conner last week.

Campaign Director Renata Maybruck was here Wednesday, poised to start the final---and perhaps most crucial leg---of a race to line up donations toward construction of a new two-story multi-million dollar family aquatic, indoor fitness, and nutritional education center.

As of last week, the campaign was within $800,000 of its target goal.

The next month is critical, according to Maybruck, as the Jack and Shirley McIntyre Foundation has pledged to match contributions made through Aug. 15.

“We’d hate to come up short,” Maybruck said, “and then have to cut back on the project.”

Especially since a state-of-the-art YMCA has been on the Skagit Valley wish list going on two generations.

The present 76-year-old YMCA building, while filled with nostalgia---the names of coach Ilo Sande and swim proteges Earl Ellis, Jack Gubrud, Dale Jewett, Cole Comings, Bruce Brown, Bernie Ellis, Jim Nichols, and Bud Ebeling, among others, are still spoken with reverence and awe---can no longer meet the demands of a growing Skagit population, according to Maybruck.

“The ‘Y’ has literally changed lives,” Maybruck said, citing as a prime example Earl Ellis, who went on to become the long-tenured head swim coach at the University of Washington.

Still more Skagit youth can be positively impacted with the planned new facility, said La Conner native Maureen Harlan, a Campaign steering panel member.

“I’m a big ‘Y’ fan,” said Harlan, “and this is a once-in-a-lifetime project. It has definitely been worth all the hard work. I may never use the ‘Y’ again myself and people ask me all the time why I’m so involved. I just tell them that I benefited from it when I was growing up and this is a way to give something back.

“The great thing about the ‘Y’,” Harlan stressed, “is that it has something for the whole family, regardless of age.”

It’s hard not be a fan when one considers how the future ‘Y’ is designed.

Because it is being funded via private donations and foundation grants, taxpayers won’t be on the hook for special levies or bond issues.

Architects have drawn upon the best ideas and concepts employed at YMCAs and fitness centers around the U.S. and Canada, Maybruck said.

Plans now call for a 4,500 square-foot indoor running track; two pools, one for recreation and the other for competition, comprising a 13,000 square-foot aquatic center for children through seniors; four pickleball courts, an NCAA regulation size basketball court, and two youth basketball courts; two group fitness studios; four licensed early learning classrooms; a combo child watch, kid zone, and teen center; a learning kitchen for healthy eating habits, and much, much more.

“We’ll be able to quadruple the services we now offer,” said Maybruck.

No feature has been left untapped. The aquatic center, for instance, is to include a ‘Lazy River’ section, similar to those found at theme parks and centers, plus a whirlpool area and men’s and women’s steam rooms.

Harlan noted the popularity in Skagit County of pickleball---Shelter Bay being among its hotbeds---and basketball, and the fact there are now limited venues to play.

“There’s only one basketball court at the ‘Y’,” she said, “and we’re running out of courts in the county.”

As with the pool, the old ‘Y’ hardwood boasts countless memories, those of lunchtime pick-up games and evening league contests. They would draw players of various skill levels, from former high school subs to ex-college standouts.

Among the court regulars in the 1970s was Mount Vernon chiropractor James Caviezel, who had played at UCLA. His sons, Jim Caviezel, the future TV and screen actor, and Tim Caviezel, who would play at the University of Washington and Long Beach State, followed suit.

The new ‘Y’ will more than double the present court space, giving staff more flexibility in terms of scheduling, Maybruck said.While the monthly membership fee for a family of four could increase from $65 to $75, Harlan said the YMCA routinely provides scholarship aid for low-income households.

Private donations to the drive have thus far run the gamut. Maybruck and Harlan said there have been $10 pledges by schoolchildren and a $1.5 million contribution from Claude and Annie Blackburn.

“Really,” Harlan said, “no donation is too small.”

The Town of La Conner and the community’s service clubs and organizations have made financial commitments to the YMCA campaign, a fact lauded by Harlan, a retired La Conner teacher, school counselor, and administrator.

“This,” she pointed out, “is the largest private capital campaign in Skagit County history.”

One she’s glad her home town has embraced.

Donors wishing to contribute between now and Aug. 15, Harlan said, can do so on-line at letsbuildit2019.org or in person at the Skagit Valley Family YMCA, 315 East Fulton St., in Mount Vernon.

Those who chip in, she and Maybruck said, can take pride in knowing they’re part of the drive’s stretch run.