The Mathews Family YMCA hopes to begin construction on a brand-new facility on Cricket Hill Road at Hudgins this year, but there’s just one problem: Money.

Y volunteers have raised $1.75 million of the projected $2.1 million cost of the project, including cash, pledges and in-kind services, said Dick Phillips, who is spearheading the fundraising efforts, but they’re still around $350,000 to $400,000 short of enough money needed to break ground.

Not only that, but a plan to build the structure strong enough to withstand Category 2 winds has faltered badly because of the additional funds that would be required. The Y wasn’t awarded a $200,000 Virginia Department of Emergency Management grant it had requested for that purpose. The grant would also have paid to install facilities that would make the building a post-storm refuge for people and pets without shelter, electricity or water.

Phillips told Mathews supervisors during their Jan. 26 board meeting that the Y had ...