Joliet Area YMCA breaks ground on Shorewood facility

The Greater Joliet Area YMCA held its grounding breaking ceremony for the new Village of Shorewood YMCA on Thursday, despite biting wind and blowing snow.

“It’s a beautiful day in Illinois, isn’t it?” Tasha Marsaglia, Plainfield Shorewood Area Chamber of Commerce executive director, said in her opening remarks.

The 60,000-square-foot Village of Shorewood YMCA is being built at 1801 W. Jefferson St. in partnership with the village of Shorewood. The facility, when completed, will feature “a wellness center, gymnasium, an eight-lane lap pool, group exercise studios, community rooms, and outdoor spaces for summer camps and youth sports programs.

The Shorewood YMCA is expected to open in 2026. It will then also house the Greater Joliet YMCA regional headquarters.

Longtime member Stephen Blount, reading from the Bible during his invocation, reminded those present that “unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Blount also prayed that every person who walks through the Shorewood YMCA’s doors “will be welcomed and loved.”

Cheri Rubocki, chairman of the Greater Joliet YMCA board of directors, said the Shorewood YMCA will “become a home away from home for so many.”

“We’re looking forward to serving families for generations to come,” Rubocki said. “I can’t wait to cut the ribbon that opens the doors and see the magic happen here each and every day.”

Benefits to Joliet-area families

Trisha Dust, who spent her entire eight-year YMCA career working in various roles in the youth development department at the C.W. Avery Family YMCA in Plainfield, was named executive director for the Shorewood YMCA on Aug. 5.

In the meantime, Dust is leading operations at the Galowich Family YMCA in Joliet, the last remaining YMCA building in Joliet. When the Shorewood YMCA opens, Galowich will close and the building and land will be sold, according to the Greater Joliet YMCA website.

But Karla Guseman of Shorewood, superintendent of Joliet Township High School District 204 and the chairman of the Village of Shorewood YMCA Advisory Council, said the Shorewood YMCA’s programs will impact youth of all ages, including the “Joliet kiddos.”

“Many Joliet West students live in Shorewood and will benefit from the Shorewood YMCA,” Guseman said on Friday. “Additionally, the new YMCA will expand offerings for scholarships for Joliet Students for YMCA programming, such as summer camps and other new and exciting programs. Programming and partnerships with both Joliet Township High School and District 86 are planned to continue and grow.”

Dust previously said programming in Joliet will continue “without walls” and that anyone – including Joliet residents – is welcome to join any facility.

“We have people from Coal City coming all the way [to] Plainfield,” Dust previously said.

The Greater Joliet YMCA has a history of hosting programming “without walls.” For instance, the former Central City YMCA “provided programming at little or no cost for kids who attend central and east side Joliet schools,” according to the Greater Joliet YMCA website. Programs included basketball, day camp, cheerleading and the Teen Reach youth mentoring program.

Carolyn Hamilton, chief marketing and strategy officer for the Greater Joliet YMCA, said on Thursday that Central City Y “was a term that was used many, many years ago to define programs that ran at community sites.” The YMCA currently runs programs at its three existing facilities and at “more than 50 program sites throughout our community,” Hamilton said.

“Over the last decade, more and more programs have begun to run at partner locations because its more convenient for the community,” she said.

Katy LeClair, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Joliet Area YMCA, said at the groundbreaking that the YMCA will continue to meet the “ever-changing needs of all families in the community.”

Community-building opportunities

Shorewood Mayor Clarence C. “CC” DeBold reminded those in attendance of Shorewood’s previous attempts to bring a park district or other recreational facilities into the village.

DeBold said Shorewood held its first discussions with the Greater Joliet YMCA in 2018 and did a joint study in 2019 to see if a Shorewood YMCA was feasible.

“And here we are today,” DeBold said.

“I can’t wait to cut the ribbon that opens the doors and see the magic happen here each and every day.”

—   Cheri Rubocki, chairman of the Greater Joliet YMCA board of directors

DeBold said the Shorewood YMCA will bring economic opportunities. It also will create 200 construction jobs over the next 18 months along with 150 full- and part-time jobs while bringing a “state-of-the-art facility to our residents,” DeBold said.

He’s also excited that Minooka Community High School’s swim team will use the facility as is Robert Schiffbauer, Minooka Community High School District #111 superintendent. Minooka’s swim team currently “co-ops” with Morris High School, according to the school’s student newspaper.

Schiffbauer is looking forward to the day when Minooka’s swim team can “represent our community in our colors,” he said.

“This is just another opportunity to hopefully keep these kids in our community,” Schiffbauer said.

More than a building

Rubocki said some of the best memories in her own family are because of the YMCA.

And Dust said that it’s actually the stories from YMCA members that “help define what the YMCA means to the community.”

For instance the YMCA is the place where many coached, learned to swim, attended before- and after-school programs, volunteered, worked their first job or participated in fitness classes, said Katy LeClair, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Joliet Area YMCA.

“I’m even more excited about all of the ‘Y’ stories we are going to build right here on this property,” LeClair said.