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The YMCA of Northern Rock County will hold several public meetings around Milton to collect input on its proposed facility:
Thursday, May 14
-- 8 a.m., Air Products, 337 Vincent St.
-- 4 p.m., Junction Pub, 130 Merchant Row.
-- 7 p.m., Northside Intermediate School, 159 Northside Drive.
Thursday, May 21
-- 7 a.m., Ott Schweitzer Distribution, 616 Gateway Drive.
-- 1 p.m., The Gathering Place, 715 Campus Lane.
-- 6 p.m., City Hall, 430 E. High St.
If you can't go to a meeting but want to participate, call Tom Den Boer at (608) 754-6654, Ext. 115.
MILTON — The YMCA has spent months studying Milton's demographics and talking to community leaders and stakeholders to plan a new facility in Crossridge Park.
But sometimes, you have to ask the average resident to find out what the community wants.
The YMCA of Northern Rock County will do just that through community meetings this Thursday and next Thursday, May 21.
"Sometimes when you go through this process, the last group that doesn't get touched is the general public," CEO Tom Den Boer said.
The Y bought 5 acres in Crossridge Park along Parkview Drive last year for $87,000. The preliminary plan for the facility includes a fitness center, gymnasium, day care area, senior center, youth center and aquatic area.
The facility probably will be built in stages, though those stages have yet to be determined.
That's where public opinion comes in, Den Boer said.
The Milton School District has talked to the Y about possible collaboration on a community pool. Youth sports groups tend to be most interested in sports fields and courts.
YMCA officials want to know what's most important to the general public.
"There's no clear priority right now," Den Boer said.
After the public meetings, the Y will create an artist rendering of the proposed facility. It will bring that to the public, then get to work on designs and fundraising, Den Boer said.
He hopes to have a timeline, campaign goal and priority list in the next two or three months, he said. The timeline will depend on fundraising, he said.
If the building were built today, it would cost $12 million to $15 million, he said.
The YMCA facility could be just the beginning for the 43-acre Crossridge Park. The Y and the city released a conceptual plan in 2006 that includes playgrounds, a skatepark, sports fields and horseshoe pits.