[media-credit name=’YANA PASKOVA/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The City of Madison aims to open its first community pool this summer after Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced a successful completion of fundraising efforts Wednesday.

The construction began after philanthropic brothers Irwin A. Goodman and Robert D. Goodman donated more than $2 million, but due to budget constraints, the project's future was questionable.

This all changed when the mayor announced the Cooper Family Foundation donated the final $250,000 to the fundraising drive, which has been continuing for a year and a half, according to George Twigg, communications director for the mayor.

"We especially appreciate the recent generous major contribution," the Goodman brothers said in a released statement. "This gift is critically important for the completion of Madison's first community pool."

Donations like the ones put forth by the Goodman brothers and the Cooper Family Foundation have been crucial to getting the pool to fruition, Twigg said.

"What is great about the pool is that 75 percent of the funds were raised privately and only 25 percent came from the city budget," he said.

Twigg elaborated on the generous starting donation from the Goodman brothers, saying the Goodmans were involved in many community projects and feel the pool will be an asset to Madison.

"This is something they thought the community should be doing," he said. "They wanted to challenge others and businesses to step forward to donate to the project, and they were successful."

The Goodman brothers have lived and worked in Madison for nearly 70 years and expressed their gratitude to the city in the statement.

"We feel fortunate to be in a position to give back to the city that has given us so much," they said. "We are honored to be joined by all who have given their time and money to make the pool a reality."

Twigg added the pool is currently under construction and will feature waterslides, a vending area, changing rooms and showers.

"Construction has been going very smoothly," he said. "It's really going to be a full service facility."

Construction of a city pool has been in debate for nearly 60 years.

The Ad Hoc Swimming Pool Committee has met regularly in order to garner input from the community and finalize the plans, according to member Bonnie Griswold.

"The whole concept was that we finished the pool by the summer," she said. "We had to truly get engaged because we had a deadline."

Griswold said the committee spent many hours going to community centers and talking to many community groups to gather input on what Madison really wanted.

"They wanted a place to bring their families and where they could have more fun than just a swimming pool," she added.

Twigg said Cieslewicz was impressed with the community's effort to put the project into effect.

"It's important that kids of all walks of life are able to enjoy a swimming pool," he said. "Now we can make that possible."

Griswold added the pool will be a true aquatic center by offering water aerobics, swimming lessons and other water activities.

"It will truly meet the needs of a city the size of Madison," she said.