Community leaders broke ground on Saturday for the Donald and Ruth Furman Aquatics Center, after an curious project history.

Ames residents of all ages gathered at the build site on 13th Street to show support for the multi-million dollar project and the leaders who championed it.

Mayor Ann Campbell had many people and organizations to thank for the proposal’s success. The $8.5 million venture received a 77 percent vote of approval, though it was initially laden with uncertainty.

“This time the stars were aligned to make it work,” Campbell said. “The fact that Iowa State University was willing to lease this property to us, of course, made a tremendous difference.”

Dave Benson, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, witnessed the birth of a fledgling pool project in 1991. Benson thanked former commission members for their early work.

“All of those commission members, for all those years, really laid a great foundation for what we’re doing today,” Benson said. He added that there is a lesson to be learned from this long process.

“As a community we can really keep working at things until we find the right solution, and I think we’ve done that here,” he said.

Also recognized by city officials were Donald and Ruth Furman, who donated $2 million to the project, and who have lent their name to the center.

The Furmans said they have been happy about the amount of support the project has received and thanked the voters who helped make the project possible.

If it weren’t for another generous donation, however, the envisioned project would not have prevailed. When bids for construction came in earlier this year, the best bid was almost one million dollars short of the previously projected cost. City staffers were getting ready to radically redesign the aquatic center when an anonymous citizen donated the remaining million dollars to the project fund.

According to Nancy Carroll, director of Ames Parks and Recreation, the facility will provide opportunities for Ames residents of all ages and interests. The aquatics center will also offer activities like swimming lessons for children, lap swimming for more experienced swimmers, and aqua-exercise for those interested.

Carroll also hopes to see the center used for community gatherings and corporate employee events.

“I think what we’re about to see,” Campbell said, “is a facility that I think will probably do more than any other kind of recreation facility that we have, to serve all generations.”