DES MOINES, Iowa — The YMCA downtown is $1 million closer to filling its Olympic-size swimming pool.

The pool was supposed to be the centerpiece of the new YMCA but funding for the project has fallen through time and time again.

On Thursday, Vision Iowa of Iowa Economic Development announced it awarded the YMCA a $1 million grant to help finish the pool. The YMCA needs to meet all of its fundraising goals in 30 days in order to get the grant.

CEO Dave Schwartz says the organization is close to making that happen. When the pool is built, he says the community can move past the struggles it took to get it done.

“I always like to look ahead, if you look to our neighbors up the street, Wells Fargo Arena, nobody is talking about the financial difficulties they had a decade ago,” Schwartz said. “Now they are talking about all the great events that are being held there. We’ll be doing the same here in no time.”

Schwartz says we can expect an announcement on the fundraising completion in the near future.

The entire pool project costs $8.7 million.