Custer 2020 is on its way to realizing the mission it sought out to accomplish in the first place, acknowledges board president Steve Willman. The board of directors is moving forward in their efforts to acquire the Club America pool and exercise facility.

With a purchase price of $900,000 and an approximate annual operation budget of $130,000, the group admits it is taking a risk.

Yet, despite the financial risks, the group is excited about the benefits the community will reap from Club America. The facility offers Red Cross lifeguard certification classes, which give Custer County’s youth a marketable summer skill. The pool is also used by the Boy Scouts (the now forming Girl Scout troop will have the same benefits) and Custer County Kids’ Club. They are granted access at a reduced cost to keep pool use affordable.

Additionally, Custer 2020 offers need-based scholarships and sliding scale memberships so that all residents can afford to use the facility. The group’s “Who We Serve” mission statement emphasizes their “goal is to make available basic water safety skills to ALL persons living in Custer County.”

The facility’s membership has been growing fast since Custer 2020 took over operations in September 2008. Membership was previously less than 100, but Custer 2020 board director Peter LoPresti notes there are now more than 280 members. That means the group has been successful in promoting health and well-being for Custer County residents, which board members emphasize was the mission of the Custer 2020’s founder, Dr. Ann Willson.

Although Custer 2020 decided recently not to financially partner with the West Custer County Hospital District, the hospital district will still benefit from the pool being maintained and open to the public. The hospital district uses the pool for physical therapy and is currently making use of the pool based on practices used by Stanford and the University of Washington, as well as self management of chronic illnesses, according to hospital district administrator Terry Nimnicht. The University of Washington’s program has had incredible success rates in senior populations and received recognition from the Center for Disease Control in 2005.

The benefit the pool offers Custer County makes the potential risks of the purchase worthwhile to Custer 2020, said Willman. Willman is confident that Club America operations will remain viable for the group. Custer 2020 has budgeted enough hours that they would be able to hire additional help, though currently there is a strong volunteer base working at the facility. Additionally, he points out that most of the equipment has had to be serviced this year, so the group is aware of the costs of repairing machinery.

Club America also has a solar array that can supply most of the heat for the pool. Therefore, if the facility’s profits decline over the winter months, the boilers can be shut off to allow the solar arrays to heat the pool.

LoPresti says he is optimistic that Custer 2020 will be able to make the facility financially sustainable, although it would likely have to rely on charitable donations for a small percentage of operating costs.

Custer 2020’s goal is to acquire ownership by January 31, 2010 from Jerry and Mary Seifert, who opened the facility in 2005. Last fall, the Seiferts said they would be closing the facility, but Custer 2020 stepped in and worked out a lease agreement, allowing time to seek funds to purchase the facility.

Besides seeking private and foundation funding to purchase the facility, Custer 2020 is hoping to sell a 16-acre parcel of land, located near the Mission Plaza subdivision, which has an appraised value of about $400,000.

Custer 2020, a 501(c)3 non-profit, was established a decade ago with the goal of developing a community pool and recreational facility. After Club America opened, Custer 2020 became dormant but was revitalized with the announcement of the facility’s possible closure.

– Rhiannon Wickizer