LAPORTE, Pa. — Sullivan County has no public gym. It's hard to attract a big chain to a county with fewer than 6,000 people. But thanks to a group of movers and shakers, there's no need to. There are plans for a new gym, The Summit: Center for Wellness.
Mary Blondy has a vision for a 70-acre piece of land in Laporte.
The Shunk native is returning to her roots here in Sullivan County after spending years in big cities like New York and Sydney, Australia as a banker.
It was her passion for health & wellness that brought her back.
"Basically, I was actually at a funeral for a woman who donated her pool for 50 years, and we all learned to swim there, and I said, 'where's everyone gonna learn to swim?'" said Mary Blondy.
She soon learned that a group in the county had been asking a similar question since 2006.
Not just about swimming but for recreation in general.
There's no shortage of places in Sullivan County to do physical activity outdoors in the warmer months.
"But we didn't have an indoor facility. So that was our dream," said former Sullivan County Commissioner Darla Bortz.
"People are currently traveling one hour north, or one hour south or west or wherever. But there are no recreational centers in Sullivan County," said Sue Mullen from Sullivan County Recreation Association.
If you want to build a gym, you need a lot of cash. For a small, rural county, that can be hard to come by.
"And thank heaven, Mary Blondy came along," said Darla Bortz.
"Mary's helped jump it to the next level that we've never been able to do," said Mike Hedgecock from Sullivan County Recreation Association.
In 16 years, this is as far as the project has gotten. They have blueprints. They have land. They have a name.
"The Summit" will be an indoor/outdoor wellness center, complete with a pool, fitness center, amphitheater, and indoor track.
"And it sits in a beautiful, natural area. So it's gonna be, wherever you're exercising, you can see the outdoors," explained Kathy Worthington from the Sullivan County Recreation Association.
"We hope to have trails, cross-country skis, snow-shoeing, walking trails," added Hedgecock.
It's an ambitious plan. It'll cost about $30 million - $20 million for the building and $10 million for an endowment to keep the center running. There's no exact timeline yet - but the project will take several years. Blondy said of the timeline:
"We are moving forward on the engineering design and development of the half-mile driveway with the $220,000 we received from corporations under the DCED Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit Program. Next on our list is to find funds to actually construct the driveway, which is estimated to be just over $1 million.
We received a grant from Endless Mountains Heritage Region and Sullivan County Recreational Association to make our first trail - The Summit Loop - which we plan to have ready in late spring."
But county leaders say it'll be a major boost to the economy and the health of its aging population.
"About 1/3 of our population is senior citizens now," said Sullivan County Commissioner Darlene Fenton. "So this will be a place for them, so they can work out. But also, it'll bring more families to stay here because they do have something to do."
Darla Bortz is a former county commissioner and one of the original pioneers behind the project.
She said, "It takes a lot of energy, and it takes a lot of someone staying on it. And that's what this new group is doing. And it's always nice to hand it over to new people with new ideas and a lot more energy that I have anymore."
The wellness center will sit in a wooded area directly behind Sullivan County High School, granting easy access to students and parents.
It will also be open to seasonal residents. The county's population typically doubles in size during the summer.
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