Almost six years in the making, Choice Wellness Center needed just two minutes of a Grand Forks Park Board meeting Tuesday night to be given its final stamp of approval.
The five commissioners unanimously voted to approve construction of a fitness center that is about much more than treadmills and ellipticals. The vote's outcome was never in doubt -- as attested to by the champagne on ice outside the meeting room at King's Walk Golf Course -- but it was the end of a long journey.
The facility was never controversial because tax dollars aren't being used. But it took a long time to raise the $27 million required for the new building and a substantial renovation of the Y.
Rob Vollrath of Grand Forks was one of the fundraising leaders on the ground floor.
"It was not difficult to make a case for it," he said. "Most people recognized the need for it. But what really made it come together was setting the fears aside that the Y would die because of it."
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The Park District and the Y agreed to a dual membership, where membership at one facility meant being able to use both of them. This also gave the city facilities on the south end and north end, calming any territorial battles. They also agreed to share in the fund-raising riches.
Vollrath said another key was landing the Human Nutrition Research Center as a tenant. The laboratory will study obesity in the center, bringing more legitimacy and a serious purpose to the building, a further enticement to potential donors.
"With the research component, it was not just a sweatbox," Vollrath said.
Altru Health System also will rent space in the facility, offering physical therapy and occupational therapy and perhaps other services. Altru also spent $6.5 million to build a separate 7,500-square-foot sports medicine clinic on the wellness center's grounds.
The naming rights for the facility went to Choice Financial for $2.75 million.
Despite the big dollars collected from naming rights and leases, business and private donations also were needed to reach the goal. John Staley, Park District director, said the public campaign in the last few weeks shows the widespread community support.
"We're getting two to three checks a day for $5,000," Staley said. "And that's just from our mailings. When you can get that kind of number just from mailings, it shows a thorough belief."
Staley said he also heard from many donors concerned about the health of their employees, children and grandchildren.
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"It's the right project at the right time," he said. "People are really worried about obesity."
Even though the plan from the start was to not use tax dollars, Staley said the idea was a tough sell at the beginning.
"Everybody liked the idea of no taxes, but a lot of them didn't think it could happen that way," he said. "But as more donors came in, others would buy into it, too."
Reach Bakken at (701) 780-1125; (800) 477-6572, ext. 125; or send e-mail to rbakken@gfherald.com .
