LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
PARIS—“It is rock n’ roll time,” Executive Director of The Rec Center Erin Hutchison told a Prairie Press reporter on Nov. 20. In her hands, she held a permit from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The permit officially greenlights the renovation and construction of The Rec Center’s pool.
“We have checked the last box necessary to fully commence the renovation of the pool facility,” Drew Griffin, president of the facility’s board of directors, said. “Up until this time, we have been focused on other pieces of our capital improvement campaign, but now that we have the IDPH’s approval for our permit application and we can have our contractors begin … this permit is the final piece of a puzzle that The Rec Center and its board of directors have been working towards for some time.”
“This, really, is it. This is that big piece we have been waiting on to move forward,” Hutchison agreed.
In 2009, the center, then known as the YMCA, closed its pool. Shortly after the closure, discussions about what it would take to reopen the pool began circulating around town. Eventually, good samaritans and well-intentioned community members began putting actions behind their words.
The Rec’s dive into pool renovations and plans kicked off in 2022 with a $500,000 donation and a 10-year, $35,000 pledge.
“It all started because of the Hasler Foundation; they are the ones that actually said, ‘let’s get started here,’” the Rec’s board of directors vice president and capital campaign co-chair Steve Benefiel said. “They broke the cycle.”
Additional contributions rolled in as news of the plans spread, culminating in the creation of The Rec’s capital campaign and goal of raising $3 million. Today, fundraising efforts have resulted in the collection of two-thirds of the goal.
“There’s so many people excited about it. We’ve had a lot of vocal support for the project from the beginning, and we’ve been fortunate to also have a good amount of financial support from the moment it was announced,” Griffin said.
The official planning stage for the pool kicked off in April 2024, with the submission of renovation plans to the state and the start of demolition work on site. Before the state approved the center’s plan, Griffin explained the board of directors and staff focused on demolition works and preparing the facility for new equipment.
“We have been able to engage in a lot of work on the renovation of the locker rooms because those can be renovated regardless of whether the IDPH approves us reopening a pool or not,” Griffin said. “Since getting that approval, we can actually start doing the renovation and construction. We can start to put up the new wall system that we have to have for the pool. We can start to install the new HVAC system and the updated equipment in the pump room.”
Among the new features that will be installed with the pool is a detailed maintenance system. The system will allow Rec staff to remotely check the pool’s temperature, humidity levels, air temperature and chlorine levels.
“We’ve also been doing a lot of other stuff while we wait,” Benefiel added. “We’ve gotten some furnaces taken care of, we are working on the roof and we have security upgrades since we have gone to 24 hours … This is not just for the pool; this capital campaign is for a lot of other stuff, too.”
For Benefiel, Griffin, Hutchison and the various individuals directly involved with the planning and fundraising of the center’s pool, the multitude of upgrades go hand in hand with the installation of a pool.
“Having an updated locker room makes sense,” Griffin said. “But, pool or no pool, those locker rooms are a huge benefit to everything else that goes on at this facility, and they need to be renovated and updated. Part of the capital campaign is the pool; it is the primary focus and is why many people are very interested. But internally, we’re also very excited about the opportunity to update the locker rooms to address HVAC issues, update heating systems and clean up other bathrooms throughout the area. Quite a few things have been folded in under this campaign.”
Contributions to The Rec’s campaign create sustainability, a keyword for Griffin.
“As we’ve said from the beginning, we set our campaign goal with the idea that we’d be able to fund the capital improvements we’re making to the facility as a whole, and with a successful campaign, we would have a sustainability fund to allow us to maintain these improvements,” Griffin explained. “That is why it is so critical that right now we reach this goal. We have been very fortunate with the outpouring of support so far. It has us nearly two-thirds of the way to our goal, but that last third is what’s going to make all this work worth it. It is what’s going to safeguard the future operation of the facility for us. It is the sustainability, and we’re trying to get this sustainability piece.”
The fitness center’s future is only made possible by the contributions of individuals inside and outside the community. Since fundraising began, people from all walks of life and backgrounds have funded The Rec’s campaign. According to Griffin, donations have come to the board in all forms, including gifts of grain, and every contribution is greatly appreciated.
“There are some people who have wanted to financially support our project and become partners with us in making it happen, but they have wanted to make sure that we’ve cleared this last hurdle of getting our permit,” Griffin said. “We are cognizant of the fact that this is a big ask in our community, and dollars are tight for people … we don’t begrudge anyone from wanting to make sure that we’ve cleared this hurdle. We understand why there’d be a healthy amount of skepticism, and so now we’re excited because we think this is going to be the last thing that needs to be done to help us reach our goal.”
Since the official plans have been approved, the board will meet with all of its contractors and engineers shortly after Thanksgiving. After the meeting, the real work will begin and every day will bring the board, staff and community closer to getting their feet wet.
“We are hopeful that we will have the locker rooms reopened to our users in January,” Griffin said.
Anyone interested in donating, volunteering or simply learning more about The Rec’s pool revival project can find more information at https://www.parisrec.org/dive-in-for-the-future/.
Hutchison, Griffin and Benefiel also encourage anyone with questions to call The Rec at 217-466-9622 and schedule an appointment to discuss the campaign.