Pool and fitness center project gets KAHR grant

Luverne’s $5 million pool and fitness center expansion project will get a financial boost with a KAHR Foundation grant of $400,000.
Mayor Pat Baustian shared the news last week with members of the city pool commission.
“This is such a wonderful gift to the Luverne community and in a larger scale the citizens of Rock County,” he said Feb. 3. “We are so fortunate to have a long-term relationship with the Herreid family and the KAHR Foundation.”
The KAHR Foundation was started in 2005 by Warren Herreid II and his wife, Jeannine Rivet, for philanthropic endeavors, the first of which was the Rock County Veterans Memorial on the courthouse lawn in Luverne.
Since then, the foundation has poured millions of dollars into the Rock County community for projects and civic organizations with causes that improve the lives of local citizens.
In a letter to the city, Rivet commended city leaders for their progressive stance on supporting quality-of-life features for residents.
“We appreciate all you do for the Luverne community and look forward to seeing the new addition to the Aquatics and Fitness Center building,” she wrote.
The grant will be disbursed in two parts, $200,000 in June 2021 and $200,000 in June 2022.
Facility manager Sam Honerman said she was speechless about the donation.
“It is so hard to wrap my head around generosity like this,” she said. “A simple thank you just doesn’t seem enough.”
The funds will be used specifically toward the $800,000 outdoor splash pad that will be constructed on south side of the facility.
Other planned improvements to the facility include:
•new locker rooms.
•four family changing rooms.
•flat space rooms for group aerobic exercise.
•new office space and staff area.
•larger rooms for both 24-hour weightlifting and aerobic exercise machines.
•new mechanical and heat, ventilation and air-conditioning for the facility.
According to the proposed project timeline, work will start in March or April of this year and be completed by May of 2022.