YMCA braces for the `new reality'
Organization assessing strategy after closing 2 facilities in 2020
After the challenges of the past culminated in the closure of two of its three facilities, Regina YMCA is now planning for its future.
What becomes of the downtown building remains uncertain. The pool and fitness facilities have been decommissioned and all that remains is the daycare centre, which has 90 licensed spots.
Consideration has been given to selling the downtown building, which the Regina YMCA has called home since 1959. There have also been talks of different, higher end uses other than a traditional gym and fitness facility.
“If a group or an organization or a buyer came forward and there's the ability to maintain those spaces where they are, we certainly wouldn't dismiss that until we talked it through,” Regina YMCA chief executive officer Steve Compton said in a recent interview.
The COVID-19 pandemic wasn't strictly the reason behind the decision to shutter its downtown and east Regina locations, but it was a contributing factor. The organization was already working through financial and organizational challenges even before the coronavirus struck.
“We were making progress in the first two quarters before the COVID announcement,” Compton said. “We had some small growth in our membership. We had our expenses in line, we had reinvigorated our strategy plan with some of our community activities and we were moving forward.
“COVID just put a new reality on all of these things.”
That new reality included the realization of how long COVID-19 has lasted.
“For many organizations, there was a lot of hope that this was going to be something that we would measure in weeks and months, not potentially a year and plus,” Compton said. “Many thought that it was a short-term shutdown or adjustment on how we delivered things.”
The YMCA had 9,000 members prior to the pandemic. Those memberships fell to less than 4,800 due to the pandemic and that drop contributed to the YMCA closing its downtown and east Regina health, fitness and aquatics facilities.
The organization, however, is committed to running the daycare at its downtown location.
The northwest YMCA facility, which offers health, fitness and aquatics programs, remains open. Participants and staff must follow the protocols set by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
For example, only a certain number of people are allowed in the building, workout slots must be booked online and physical distancing must also be maintained.
“When we first started, it was very different to now,” Compton said. “Living in the pandemic means people have adjusted and have been really supportive.”
The differences in the facilities contributed to which ones to close and keep the northwest building open. The Regina YMCA owns the downtown and northwest buildings and the lease on the east Regina facility was due to expire in March.
“What's unique about the northwestern and downtown centres is we had pool services, and we also had co-location of childcare in those facilities,” Compton said. “In the east end, we didn't have that, so we never fully realized the membership levels and the support the location that had been planned for.”
If and when the pandemic is under control, Compton would like to see the YMCA return to its traditional practices without all of the protocols and guidelines. That would include aquatic lessons along with physical and personal training opportunities.
He also feels that opportunities may emerge for health-based streams that would include living with diabetes, nutrition and assisting those recovering from surgeries.
There is also talk of heart-smart activities and programs that would address health and wellness issues along with overall mental health, as well.
“There are also some programs about aging in the elderly that we're checking out thoroughly because we think that's what the community is going to want and is going to need,” Compton said. “We've reached out to our members to get some feedback from them on what's missing and what we might add or what we should keep doing or do more of.
“I really think it's going to be that piece around your health and wellness in a more total sense as opposed to that half-hour on a treadmill or an elliptical in the morning.”