By HARRIET PROTHRO PENROD
He has been described as “unrealistically optimistic.” And that was by one of his sons.
“That can be considered a positive or a negative,” Gary Lash says of the description.
For Shreveport, it’s definitely a positive.
When Lash took over as Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana in 2003 (or, as he says, “God dropped me in the middle of this”), the organization wasn’t in great shape. Opened in 1925, the Downtown Y found itself in pretty dire straits. The first thing to do, according to Lash, was to get that location back on track.
“We cleaned up downtown,” says the Cotton Valley native. “We sold five acres of property to get out of debt. Once we cleared up the debt, we refurbished the equipment downtown. Once there was progress, people started supporting this. As you progress, you’ve got to do something different.”
Getting the YMCA’s flagship facility back on its feet was just the beginning of what Lash wanted to accomplish. Over the years, the progress continued. Ground was broken in 2015 for the YMCA Red River Fitness & Natural Sciences Campus, located adjacent to the BHP Billiton Shreveport office at the corner of Preston and Knight Streets – thanks to a $10.7 million donation from BHP Billiton.
“BHP Billiton is extremely benevolent,” Lash says of the world-leading resources company. “They wanted to build a legacy project and they chose us.”
The BHP Billiton YMCA includes a 50-meter pool, an indoor family pool, basketball gym, cardio and strength equipment, spin studio, group exercise studios, a CrossFit and weightlifting gym, and a child watch center. Plans are for the campus to expand to a total of 42 acres, including connections to the Red River Bike Trail and the Clyde Fant Parkway.
Progress doesn’t stop there, however. A natural sciences education facility — including outdoor amenities such as walking paths and wildlife observation areas – will soon break ground on the land between the Elks Club and the building once occupied by BHP Billiton, expanding the total project footprint to about 150 acres.
Add to all that a major renovation of the Shreveport Little League facility and the now underway construction of the 30,000- to 45,000-square-foot facility that brings the YMCA back to the Camp Forbing area and Lash’s optimism continues to become a reality.
Ground was broken last fall on the Ellerbe Road facility that will be known as the Lash Family YMCA – aptly named since Camp Forbing was such a big part of the family’s past. Both sons – Tyler and Austin – spent their youths as campers, lifeguards, and counselors. And Lash’s wife Renee taught aerobics classes there. All were present for the on-site announcement in November.
An anonymous donor came forward to get the construction started and the YMCA is raising the remainder of the funds to complete the project.
For both the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana and BHP Billiton, the legacy project is more than just building facilities – it’s about improving the community.
According to Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, the organization’s responsibility reaches far beyond providing facilities for sports and activities.
“We want to be a true ‘community center,’” says Goodman.
To that end, the YMCA is sponsoring panel discussions to get the public together to discuss ways to improve the community – including tonight’s mayoral forum that will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Knight Street facility.
It is also conducting weekly interviews with a wide cross-section of individuals in the community for podcasts that can be found on the YMCA’s YouTube channel, YMCA of Northwest Louisiana.
“These activities – all these projects – are being done to get kids and adults involved in the community,” says Lash. “We’re trying to do something about the problems we are facing in Shreveport. The purpose is changing people’s attitudes.”
For Lash, it’s all about bringing people together to work towards a common goal of community improvement.
It’s just part of the plan for the “unrealistic optimist.”
Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com
