PLYMOUTH — A name change and new leadership are in the works for Bardwell Aquatic Center in Plymouth.
Bob Sturtevant appeared before the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission to outline the changes that have occurred in the leadership and direction of the aquatic center over the past three months.
The facility has been struggling to remain open due to the cost of day-to-day operations. The not-for-profit running the center was forced to ask for a “pre-payment” of support money for the year from the city of Plymouth to continue keeping the doors open.
Over the past several months, Plymouth Mayor Robert Listenberger assembled a group of interested citizens to explore ways to keep the facility open and put together an entity to run the day-to-day operations.
Sturtevant told the board that while the financing to construct the facility was “pretty impressive,” the plan to operate the facility “never really got off the ground.”
The decision of the group is that the facility and the not-for-profit that operates it will be “rebranded,” renaming the group as “Plymouth Aquatics,” and the facility itself will now be known as the “Plymouth Community Aquatics Center.”
Sturtevant said the goal is to make the facility a community center and take advantage of sponsorships and advertising opportunities to help the bottom line. He told the board that the group had a goal to raise $300,000 a year for the facility and had already raised $100,000 to date. He said that a fund would shortly be set up with the Marshall County Community Foundation to handle those donations.
Sturtevant told the Commission that the plan was to expand programming, especially community events, and would start with the facility being open for “free swimming” on Sundays in July.
Another member of the group, Francis Ellert, told the board that a business plan for the facility was in the works and would be completed soon and made available to them.
