Thank you to the Frederick County Board of Supervisors – and Supervisor Doug McCarthy as resource person – for voting 7 to 0 to work with the 2 For 2 Foundation to bring water and ice facilities to our region.
For a year, the foundation researched and interviewed the community for the best projects they would like to see realized. As a result, the foundation created a specific mission to develop and maintain swimming and ice skating facilities to provide sports, educational and recreational centers for the community.
This facility is not just another pool or a patch of ice. It will be a regional model and a public-private partnership to avoid passing the debt on to our children.
We are delighted that the government is working with us to make this project a net zero cost to the government and will leave assets and an endowment for the future.
The proposed facility will have a “cradle to grave” concept, offering options ranging from “mommy and me” classes to wheelchair skating. And we want to explore sports tourism, so that the money stays here and the money comes here. The facility will have positive government impacts on economic development, health and welfare, and positive financial flows.
Research over the past year shows that this model will help solve and bring equity to high school athletic facilities; provide another source of finance other than simply raising taxes; will not create debt; creates opportunities for physical and mental well-being for all; and teaches a generation that there are alternatives to reliance on government to provide for the needs of the community.
It’s a win-win-win-win for Frederick, Clarke, Winchester, Shenandoah and Warren. This is a regional model bringing communities together so that this project is done now and not decades from now.
We want to create with our government healthy, engaged children who grow into a healthy, engaged workforce that will contribute to their community and engage in healthy ways.
Thanks to Supervisors Doug McCarthy, Blaine Dunn, Judith McCann-Slaughter, Robert Wells, Shawn Graber, Josh Ludwig and President Charles Dehaven.
Lynda Tyler is a resident of Stephenson and president of the 2 for 2 Foundation.
