SN 10-30-2021

Page 2/The Sun and News, Saturday, October 30, 2021

will manage the facility
under a partnership with the
school district.
The $24 million facility,
which is slated for comple-
tion in the spring of 2024,
will house a competition
swimming pool, a family
pool and a warm-water pool
for therapeutic use on the
main floor, with a running
track, multi-use gymnasium
and fitness center on the sec-
ond floor. It also will be the
new home of the Caledonia
Resource Center, which runs
educational and enrichment
programs for the larger
Caledonia community.
Caledonia Superintendent
Dr. Dedrick Martin recalled
meeting with students who
were part of the swimming
program while he was inter-
viewing for the superinten-
dent’s job in the spring of
2018 and hearing about the
desire from some who want-
ed to see a pool in Caledonia.
“Hearing of their dedica-
tion and hearing their hunger
for something in their own
community sparked with me
with an idea and the drive to
try to figure out what we
could do to create this oppor-
tunity for our students right
in our own community,”
Martin said.
That’s when the conversa-
tions started between the dis-
trict and the YMCA. The Y
has run local preschool and
child care programs in
Caledonia for more than 15
years. In April 2020, the two
entities reached a memoran-
dum of understanding on
how the community center

would be operated. Then, in May 2020, voters in the Caledonia district approved an $88.1 million bond issue that also included funding for construction of the new Dutton Elementary School at the corner of 76th Street and Patterson Avenue and building renovations throughout the district. About 59 percent of the more than 7,100 voters who cast ballots in the election approved the proposal. “Dr. Martin came to us with a vision to partner with the YMCA, to better accom- modate the needs of our community resource center, the students of Caledonia Community Schools and the larger community,” school board president Marcy White said. “It addressed safety and security issues, the space needed to support our Caledonia Resource Center as well as the student body at Duncan Lake [Middle School], a pool for athletics and a way to make it finan- cially sustainable ... This is a monumental day for all of us to celebrate, as we turn the page to a new chapter for this community. Today we see the start of a vision and partnership.” Scott Lewis, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, said the Cal Community Center will become a hub for the community. “Community centers really do act like their name. They become a community center,” Lewis said. “Our YMCA buildings are no dif- ferent. We like to see our facilities bring community together and have people stay – not just work out and leave, but stay and build

community. We know that this partnership is extremely synergetic and we are really fortunate to be a part of it.” The Caledonia Resource Center, which has been in charge of community education programs in Caledonia for more than 30 years, cur- rently operates out of Duncan Lake Middle School. Center coordinator Monique Brennan said that the new facility will address chal- lenges the center has faced with space and programming, particularly for senior programs. “With the new facility, the senior center will be able to set its own calendar instead of running on the school calendar, which will provide continuity in their programming,” Brennan said. “They’ll have a space all their own, giving us an opportunity to expand senior programming and reach more of our community. Most importantly, they’ll have more room to park.” The name of the new center was unveiled during the groundbreaking ceremony.

The district held a naming contest that received about 180 unique submissions. That list was whittled down to five names that were voted on in an online contest that received more than 1, votes, Martin said. “This new community space will help bring our residents together, to improve their overall health and well-being of all of Caledonia and the surrounding areas,” Martin said. “This project would not be feasible with- out the community and local support by the 2020 bond team ... as well as the YMCA, Rockford Construction, Stantec, C2AE and the Caledonia Resource Center. This is truly a team effort and we are looking forward to building a stronger, healthier community together.” Construction on the Cal Community Center was to have started in September, but higher-than-expected costs in the bidding process, particularly for steel, electri- cal and metal components, during the summer put the project temporarily on hold. The district and Rockford Construction, which is the general contractor for the project, worked with suppli- ers to whittle down costs on more than 30 specific line items. One major change in the project was switching from steel to precast concrete for some of the interior struc- tural work, district Director of Operations and Transportation Matt Hess told the school board at an Oct. 18 meeting. Hess said after the ceremony that there was a pos- sibility of getting some of the foundational work for the center in the ground before winter comes, “but we’re not going to count on it.” “If we start [construction] in the spring, we’re really not losing much time,” Hess said. For more details about the Cal Community Center, visit calschools.org/2020-bond.

COMMUNITY CENTER, continued from page 1

THANK YOU • THANK YOU • THANK YOU • THANK YOU • THANK YOU •

The Caledonia Sons of The Legion would like to thank everyone who attended our 2021 Golf Outing Fund Raiser in June. Thanks to your generosity and donations from the following Sponsors, we raised over $8,200.00 to help support our Veterans! Alaska Excavating A & T Appraisals Caledonia Ace Hardware Brad & Lindsey Loomans Branns - Caledonia Byron Plumbing BCF Wealth Strategies Cal Wear on Main Caledonia Farmers Elevator Caledonia Rent All Champs Car Wash Davenport College Dan Charles Insurance Dr. Gary Scott DDS Emory Stouffer - 5 Star 5 Lakes Brew Pub Family Tavern Broadmoor Country Club Briarwood Golf Club Jim Gless Indoor Climate Solutions

Jason Hilaski – SZS Jetco Solutions Brinks Ice cream Express Lakeside Pizza Kyle Korhorn Kentwood Excavating Kevin & Tammi Loomans Lakeside Plumbing Godwin Hardware & Plumbing Lameyer Plumbing Linda Swartout Love Inc. Marathon 28th Street Meyerink Trenching Middleville Tool & Die Muffler Man in Plainwell Nobel Delivery Opus Packaging Paul Osborn Prudential Financial

Doug Detmer RCI Inc. - Rick Cronin Rehman Group Rick & Deb Lameyer Sheely Plumbing Stauffer & Wiggers Ins. Seasonal Solutions Trademark Electric United Collision US Golf Cars Wally & Terry Brodock Wyser Inov. Products Ferguson Enterprises Night Hawk Grille & Bar Midstate Plumbing Hauserman, Thompson, Dickinson & Biggs PC

Thank You! Caledonia Sons of The Legion Post 305

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An artist’s rendering of what the new Cal Community Center will look like when completed in the spring of 2024.

Scott Lewis of the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, from left, with Monique Brennan of the Caledonia Resource Center, school board president Marcy White and Caledonia Superintendent Dr. Dedrick Martin dig in to break ground Wednesday.

Caledonia Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Dedrick Martin speaks about the Cal Community Center at Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony. (Photos by Greg Chandler)

Caledonia Board of Education President Marcy White speaks about the events that led up to the approval of the Cal Community Center project.

Scott Lewis, president and chief executive officer of the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, talks about the partnership between the YMCA and Caledonia schools that led to the project.

Caledonia Resource Center coordinator Monique Brennan speaks about the benefit of the Cal Community Center for her organization, particularly senior programs.

bly apply as soon as they get their special land-use and site-plan approval letter from

the village.” And that, potentially, could be as early as November.

HEARINGS, continued from page 1

SN 10-30-2021

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