Rendering courtesy of Marshall Area YMCA A rendering shows the indoor play area planned to be installed at the Marshall Area YMCA later this year. The play area is one project that will be supported by an ongoing capital campaign at the Y. The campaign has reached about 93% of its $750,000 goal, Ron Halgerson said this week.

MARSHALL — The first of some major planned updates at the Marshall Area YMCA should be opening later this year, Y supporters say. This week, the Y placed its order for play structures for a new indoor play area.

The new playground is planned to open this summer, said Ron Halgerson, who is working with the YMCA’s ongoing capital campaign.

“We’re looking at right around mid-August,” he said.

The YMCA has reached about 93% of of its $750,000 capital campaign goal, Halgerson said. The Y has received support from local businesses, community groups and individuals, Halgerson said. They have also requested grant funding for the project.

“We’re very happy with where things are at,” said Jamie Nauman, interim CEO at the Marshall Area YMCA. “We’ve had a lot of community support.”

The funds raised by the capital campaign will go toward three main areas. One is converting the Y’s two racquetball courts into an indoor play area.

“This is probably the part of the campaign that has significant interest for families,” Halgerson said. Having an all-seasons place to play would help fill a community need while adding new life to part of the YMCA building. The racquetball courts have been part of the Y facility for years, but racquetball has declined in popularity with visitors.

“We have 1,800 square feet of space that’s underutilized,” Halgerson said. One of the two racquetball courts has already been turned into a play area, that does get used by children and families, he said.

The new play area will have two different structures. One will be geared toward toddlers, while the other will have more levels of climbing and play features for school-aged children. Halgerson said the Y also plans to add some acoustical treatment and some decorative graphics for the walls of the former racquetball courts.

The next major area of renovations includes a revamp of the Y’s fitness area and weight room.

“We’ve evaluated how people use the equipment in this space,” Halgerson said, and the Y was trying to find the right size and layout for the fitness area. It was also time to update the weight and exercise equipment.

“Some of the treadmills, I’m told, have got 27,000 miles on them,” he said.

Plans for the fitness area include adding new weight and cardio machines. Part of the plans include space for functional training, with equipment like ropes, kettlebells and a tank sled.

The third main area of the capital campaign goes toward some needed, but maybe less noticeable updates, Halgerson said. The list of facilities needs included updated water heater and fire alarm systems, parking lot maintenance, and more.

Updates to the Y’s community meeting room are planned with the help of the Ted Rowe estate and the Marshall Sunrise Rotary, Halgerson said. Rowe, who died in 2024, was involved in a variety of community organizations including Rotary.

“Service above self was just inherent in the way he operated,” Halgerson said. He said the Sunrise Rotary was contributing to update the YMCA meeting room in Rowe’s memory.

Halgerson said it was good to see the support for the Y capital campaign over the past year, especially since members of the public were also contributing toward a new Aquatic Center in Marshall over the same time period.

“We’ve had strong support from local donors — private individuals, businesses and organizations,” he said. “There’s a definite need and interest in this.”