Cheers erupted from the water as Jana Hughes began speaking to the evening water aerobics class at the Seward Dowding Municipal Pool on Aug. 2.
The swimmers were excited to hear about the Seward Wellness Center and what it has to offer them.
Hughes spoke about the benefits of having a natatorium – or indoor pool – at the wellness center.
One of those benefits will be the ability for water aerobics classes to continue all year long, not just in the summer when the Dowding Pool is open.
She highlighted the features of the natatorium, which will include a current channel with flowing water that can be used in a number of ways.
“Little kids love it because they can float around with their floaties. Adults love it because they can walk around against the current,” Hughes said.
Seward Changing the Game, the organization behind the center’s planning and fundraising, along with representatives from the City of Seward and BVH architects, spent time visiting other wellness facilities across Nebraska.
They wanted to see what worked well and learn what to avoid. That’s how the idea for a current channel came about.
Hughes said they considered other water features like slides but heard more positive comments about the current channel because it appeals to a wider age range.
“From all our research, they said this is the best thing,” Hughes said.
The channel can be used for fun and fitness. She emphasized how older adults can use it for low-impact exercise by walking against the water. It will also serve physical therapy patients and those wishing to build strength through water resistance.
The natatorium will have a six-lane pool, which can be used for swim team competitions, exercise and recreation.
The pool will range in depth from 4 to 7 feet and can be used for diving in the deep end, swimming laps or walking the lanes in the shallow end.
The center will have a multipurpose space with a slip-resistant floor adjacent to the pool, so swimmers can go from water to meeting space without having to change clothes first. Hughes said the space can be used for socializing after a class, meetings, parties and more.
Everything in the building is meant to be used by all ages, in all seasons of the year and at all times of day. Hughes said this makes the community’s investment in the project even more valuable.
“Nothing in this building is used for one hour. It is all multiuse,” Hughes said. “If we’re going to use these funds, we need to use them wisely.”
She showed plans for other areas of the building, including the gymnasium and walking track, cardio and weight training areas and the fitness studio.
Benefits for adults
Wellness Center Executive Director Joel Brase said older adults will benefit from all areas of the building, especially the fitness studio.
“We haven’t narrowed down what we’re going to offer yet, but there will definitely be things for seniors, whether it’s an easy aerobics class or other classes geared for them at times that are more convenient for that age, maybe in the middle of the day when it will be mostly free from younger kids,” Brase said.
Cycles, treadmills and other cardio equipment will be available, along with free weights and weight machines with easy-to-add-or-remove weights.
“It won’t matter how old people are, there will be things in there that can be used,” he said.
The gym courts will be marked with pickleball lines – something Brase said is popular across multiple generations.
Groups will be able to use the courts throughout the day at opposite times from youth sports activities.
A comprehensive schedule and list of offerings will be developed once construction begins.
Brase said he expects to have times when the facilities are open to everyone, such as a family swim time or after school gym use, and times when different areas are open to adults and seniors only, such as for exercise classes or physical therapy.
He hopes people use the multipurpose space and commons area to connect with one another.
“We’re hoping there will just be a constant presence of people in those areas to create some energy,” he said.
Activities for youth
Plans for the center include a supervised childwatch area where kids can play while their guardians exercise elsewhere in the building.
The center also includes a before- and after-school care area, which Brase said will bring back some of the benefits Seward used to have when the community youth center was across the street from the former middle school.
“We envision using the whole facility for those groups. That will sometimes be just a check-in area,” he said.
Students will have the chance to spend some days in the gym or in the pool, not just in one room.
The center will be used extensively for basketball tournaments and in connection with existing city rec activities.
“We have dreams of making Seward and the wellness center the hub of youth sports in the area,” Brase said. “Maybe that means we’re hosting a bigger league countywide or father, and it’s bring people from outside in to play games.”
Shane Baack, part of Seward Changing the Game, said bringing more people to town for tournaments and leagues will create more retail business. That, in turn, will pull in more tax revenue, which equates to more funding for the center through the half-cent sales tax voters approved last fall.
Brase said he wants to reach out to other communities in the area to see what their needs are and how the wellness center can benefit the tournaments and activities they already offer.
“I don’t want to steal a good thing from Malcolm or Utica or another community, but we want to make it better for everybody,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunities to do those things.”
Fundraising
continues
Baack said Seward Changing the Game received another $100,000 in funding toward the project as of Aug. 3.
“We have put out four grant applications and are waiting to hear on those,” Baack said. “We have meetings with leaders occurring daily.”
Hughes said Seward Changing the Game needs to raise $21.5 million in order to break ground this fall, and so far, it’s about 87% of the way to that goal.
About $5 million came from grants and $7 million came from private pledges. About $6 million will come from a half-cent sales tax. They hope to raise the rest through additional grants or donations instead of relying on tax dollars.
“We need citizens to contribute, but we’re also looking at other options,” Baack said. “We’re leaving no stone unturned.”
If the money isn’t raised in time for a groundbreaking this fall, the project may not be completed by the June 2025 deadline required by one of the grants. That money would then be lost.
Donations may be made online at sewardwellnesscenter.com.
