By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph YMCA officials have decided to close the downtown YMCA and consolidate programs at the Campus Family Y on North Village Drive.
St. Joseph YMCA CEO Sue Wright says the Y began reviewing strategic directions in 2017 to determine what services to offer. Wright says the aging downtown Y has become increasingly expensive to maintain.
“The building is over 40 years old and with that comes the need for repairs on some items and we have some mechanical issues that had been deferred over the years and they were expensive repairs,” Wright tells St. Joseph Post.
COVID-19 hasn’t helped.
Wright says many patrons of the Y, both downtown and the campus facility, have been reluctant to return, fearing close contact during a time of pandemic and she doesn’t expect that problem to go away any time soon.
“The thing that is of concern is we don’t know what the future looks like in terms of people coming back and being engaged and new people coming in to join our facility as well.”
Wright says it was a hard decision to make.
“This has been painful and probably the most challenging I know for volunteers who are working with a nonprofit and, like I said, I feel like countless hours have gone into that,” Wright says.
The biggest impact of the decision is the loss of the pool, racquetball courts, and gym.
The YMCA is a nonprofit, charitable organization that has been in St. Joseph for 138 years.