FAIRMONT– On Monday the Fairmont Area Community Center Foundation (FACC) announced it had received a donation of $300,000 from Bryan and Mary Beth Sweet. The Sweets committed $200,000 to the project and are offering another $100,000 in matching funds to put toward the campaign to help spark fundraising efforts.

Amy Long, a member of the Fairmont Area Community Center Foundation, noted that $300,000 is one of their larger donations. In October of 2022, Bank Midwest in Fairmont pledged $500,000 and in the summer of 2021, the anchor donors of the Krahmer family, Rosen family and Mayo Clinic Health System collectively pledged $4.5 million. It was that donation that created the Foundation.

“With the latest donation from the Sweets, the Foundation has raised over $6 million in private funds,” Long said.

In December of 2019, the Fairmont City Council at the time tasked the Foundation with raising $6 million in private funds. The city would then commit $14 million raised in local option sales tax to construct what was at the time a $20 million facility.

However, since then, there have been changes in construction costs due to inflation and changes in the council and city administration which have caused the funding sources to change.

The cost of the YMCA portion of the community center is now projected to be about $24 million. The city council is currently committing $13 million and Long said the Foundation has a goal of contributing $12 million toward the YMCA portion of the community center. In addition to fundraising, the Foundation is applying for new market tax credit to help fund its portion.

“Funding received through both of those efforts will get us closer to the now $12 million goal,” Long said.

At a joint work session in May between the Fairmont City Council, Fairmont Area Community Center Foundation, Fairmont Hockey Association and the Fairmont Community Center Advisory Board, a memo was shared between the city of Fairmont and Foundation which outlined a structure of how to complete phase one of the community center, which is the YMCA portion. The memo was reviewed and approved by council.

“The reason we needed that structure was so the Foundation could move forward with the new market tax credit,” Long said.

The memo also detailed the construction of the ice arena (phase two), which is anticipated to be funded with state bonding and additional sales tax if passed and approved.

Essentially the control of the community center project is being handed over from the control of the city to the control of the Foundation.The actual contracts for the architect and construction manager haven’t officially been assigned to the Foundation, but that’s the intent and should be happening in the near future.

Long stressed that the Foundation will be responsible for the operations and maintenance of the community center even post-construction.

“I know that’s been a big question that a lot of community members have had,” Long said.

The Foundation is working to secure not only the remaining funds to build phase one of the community center, but also to establish an endowment, which will provide stability for ongoing operations.

“We’re incredibly grateful for Bryan and Mary Beth’s generosity and excited to announce this latest donation. We think it’s fantastic the we’re over $6 million in private funds raised,” Long said.

In a press release put out by the Foundation on Monday, Bryan Sweet, Founder and CEO of Sweet Financial Partners said, “Mary Beth and I see the new community center as a tremendous investment in the health, well-being and growth of this community. Fairmont has been great to us. It’s a small way of saying thanks to all those who have helped us along the way and helped make this community the heart of our business.”

Long said the Foundation is currently working hard on securing the new market tax credit as well as working with members of the design team on the YMCA portion.

“Every dollar counts. I want to encourage others join us in making this truly decades-long vision of a community center finally a reality. We’re definitely in the home stretch,” Long said.