Only impossible until it's not

Taking advantage of a beautiful evening, McCook's new pickleball courts are filled with novice and experienced players Wednesday night.

Ronda Graff/Courtesy photo

A little over a year ago, a group of enthusiastic pickleball players came to the McCook Community Foundation Fund, asking both about possible funding to improve McCook’s outdoor pickleball courts and how to make the project happen.

The location of the two pickleball courts at the time had a direct tie to MCFF, which played a role in the development of Russell Park a decade earlier thanks to the generous donation by the Russell family.

To get the ball rolling on new courts, several questions had to be answered.

Would it be possible to upgrade the entire site? Was it realistic to find the funds to make those improvements? Was it feasible to add a third court, due to the explosive popularity of the sport? How hard will it be to get all the contractors lined up? And by the way, could all this be done this summer?

On the surface, the project would look impossible, especially considering all the other projects happening in the community. But something is only impossible…until it happens.

But determination by the pickleball players, especially Brian Michaelis, made the project happen. The collaboration among several entities, including MCFF, the Community Hospital Health Foundation and the City of McCook, made the project happen. And the financial support from the community, including a matching grant from MCFF and several other generous individuals and organizations, made the project happen.

And now whenever the weather is nice - or sometimes even when it is not so nice - the pickleball courts are full of players, laughing at the balls they missed and high-fiving their partner on the balls they returned.

The pickleball court renovation project also gained momentum thanks to the Wellness Initiative being led by Community Hospital.

This same initiative was the primary backer behind McCook’s bond issue last fall, which will provide funding for a new outdoor city pool and new or upgraded ballparks.

Both of those projects could have been seen as impossible, especially the pool renovation which had been languishing for years trying to happen.

But the right entities came together to make it happen and if everything goes according to plans, the old McCook pool will be torn out this summer, rebuilt over the fall and winter and be open to the public at the beginning of next summer.

These projects didn’t just happen.

It takes dedicated people working tother, working through problems to make the impossible possible. It takes organizations working to find the resources necessary to fund these projects. It takes individuals willing to give of their time and willingness to get others involved.

Renovating the Keystone seemed like an impossible project, with its future destined to end with a wrecking ball. During the mortgage burning a few years ago for the Keystone, former McCook Economic Development Corp. director Rex Nelson shared that the contractors said the 6-story building was within months of needing to be demolished because of pipes leaking within the columns.

But the right people were in the right place at the right time in the late 2000s and the Keystone Business Center went from impossible to save to impossible of a downtown McCook without the Keystone.

McCook is in the verge of several large projects, many of which may seem impossible.

And true, some of them may not happen; we only have so many volunteers, donors, and man-hours available.

But with individuals passionate about an idea, organizations enthusiastic about a project and everyone willing to work together to make our community an even better place to call home, we can make the impossible possible.