R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Jonathan Ringel, executive director of the Northern Lights YMCA, eyes a leak while standing in a puddle amidst dilapidated equipment beneath the pool in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — In Escanaba, the YMCA’s swimming pool, located on Bay de Noc Community College’s campus, is at the end of its life. The out-of-date mechanics have been maintained just enough to keep working, but barely and not with full, original functionality. Knowing the pool has exceeded its lifespan, the Northern Lights YMCA of Delta County is seeking to build a new pool and hopes to do so before the old one has to be shut down.

The Delta YMCA has been operating since 1985. Because of the desire and cooperation of the community, grassroots efforts to raise awareness and the necessary funds, and a partnership with Bay College, they were able to build the aquatics center, which opened in January of 1990.

That was 34 years ago. The average lifespan of a pool like this is 30 years.

NLYMCA Executive Director Jonathan Ringel said that staff has done such a good job on the upkeep of the visible area of the pool that many people won’t realize how dire the situation is. On the surface, the indoor pool with all its tile — some cracked and chipped — mostly just looks dated.

“There is a certain number of people in the community that I think realize the age and the deficiencies of the pool,” said Ringel, “and then I think there are people that don’t. And I really do credit our staff just for working so hard to keep the pool up. I mean, there are a lot of cosmetic things that you would not notice as we’ve worked very hard to keep the condition of the tile and the condition of the pool room and our HVAC system — I mean, just to the best of our ability. But, you know, where our concern really comes in is the underbelly of the pool. The mechanical system is severely aged, deteriorating and dated. The functionality is declining rapidly.”

He added that modern pools are far more energy-efficient, and that the NLYMCA has seen that first-hand following the replacement of the pool at the Dickinson Program Center in Iron Mountain.

“We ourselves did a capital campaign over in Dickinson to save our aging pool in 2019,” Ringel said. “We’ve really been able to reduce energy costs. We’ve been able to reduce chemical cost because the new pool is so much more efficient.”

Pre-pandemic, the Dickinson project cost about $4.5 million. In that case, the pool was closed for six months to be drained, dug out, and rebuilt.

Ideally, the pool in Delta County won’t have to close, because the replacement is going in a new location. It will be attached to the facility at 2000 N. 30th Street where most of the Delta YMCA now resides, and the old pool will likely be filled in and used for athletics by Bay College.

“We’re still really finalizing at this point … plans (for) what the pool will actually look like, any actual drawings,” said Ringel. The rough estimate, he said, is $4.8 million, but he also reiterated that the YMCA’s current “quiet phase” is still testing the waters to gauge what is feasible and to contact donors.

Following the YMCA’s annual campaign for 2024, which is running presently to raise money for the range of programs the organization offers, focus will shift to the capital campaign — that is, the pool project.

The YMCA relies on grants, donations, and volunteers to operate. At the annual campaign kickoff a few weeks ago, the community was praised for their generosity, and the accomplishments the Delta Y has made in the last year were highlighted.

The future was touched on, too, as Association Board Chair Gordon (“Gordy”) Fitch spoke briefly about the goals for the pool. He shared that between grants and early donations, $2.5 million — roughly half of the goal — has already been pledged towards the new pool.

“We are trying to get it done as quickly as we can, because that pool is barely hanging in there, and we do not want to have a shutdown for anytime until we actually have a pool over here ready to go,” Fitch said.

While giving the Daily Press a tour of the so-called “underbelly” of the pool — the basement, full of cracks, leaks, rust, corrosion, drips and puddles — Ringel brought up another cause for concern.

“I should mention, the pool has become so dated, we have not been able to drain it,” said Ringel, speaking loudly over metallic rattling. “Because we’re afraid when the pressure comes up with the water table, it will rise up and start cracking. So then we’re nervous … if you empty a pool, it becomes lighter and more buoyant. We might actually have some more cracking of the tiles and stuff if the pool were to lift.”

He said that they like to fully drain the pool once a year in order to wash the sides and get fresh water in. While water is still being added and cycled, Ringel estimates it’s been about three years since it was flushed and emptied.

Looking around at rusty parts and noting that replacing existing pieces would not be the wisest investment, Ringel again compared the Delta pool to the new one in Dickinson. He said that the modern technology there, besides being more efficient, also takes up less space and is easier to use.