NAACP, Pottstown council oppose YMCA closure
POTTSTOWN » Two more organizations are joining the chorus of community voices opposing the closure of the Pottstown YMCA.
When considered in combination with the rejection of the closure by the very committee the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA put together to recommend how to provide alternative programs, it provides further evidence of the unpopularity and growing resistance to the closure, which is slated to occur in June.
On March 22, the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP adopted a four-page resolution that takes the larger YMCA organization to task on a number of fronts; not the least of which is closing a facility in a low-income high-mi-
nority community while at the same time constructing “state of the art facilities” in communities with “significantly wealthier socio-economic populations.”
It reminds the YMCA of its “stated mission” to serve communities “regardless of age, income or background.”
The NAACP resolution further disputes assertions by Philadelphia Freedom Valley CEO Shaun Elliott that many members are ready and willing to use other Y facilities outside the borough.
“Very few Pottstown YMCA members seriously intend, or are capable of utilizing the nearest alternative YMCA facility,” the NAACP resolution reads, adding that “most users of the current YMCA childcare facility would not utilize the Sanatoga facility, due to its location.”
In February, the YMCA announced it had signed a 10-year lease at a former childcare facility in Sanatoga.
The YMCA’s announced intention to create a “Y without Walls,” which would house programs in other locations, is a concept about which most Pottstown residents “voice skepticism” and would “require significant expenditure of financial resources that otherwise could go into the existing building,” according to the NAACP resolution.
That resolution predates the conclusions announced by the task force and not only opposes the closing of the Pottstown facility; but in the alternative calls on the regional Y organization to either build a new facility; or give the current one back to the community to be run locally.
Additionally, if the building is to be returned to the community, the
NAACP also calls on “Freedom Valley YMCA to pay the borough $7.6 million that will be used to renovate the building and launch its re-start.”
Pottstown Borough Council has drafted its own resolution opposing the YMCA closure, which closely mirrors the one adopted March 15 by the Pottstown School Board.
Council’s resolution “adamantly opposes the closure of the Pottstown branch of the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA and further opposes alternatives that result in services being taken out of the borough of Pottstown.”
Council President Dan Weand said during April 4’s work session that he went through a similar experience when an Ohiobased company bought Stanley Flagg Brass in West Pottsgrove.
“They mismanaged it, ran it into the ground but kept taking the money out of it and sending it back to
Ohio. Then, when they had failed to invest in any upgrades at the plant, they said ‘well, you don’t make money anymore, so we’re closing you down,’” said Weand.
“We called it mining for gold by the executives. This is the same scenario I’m seeing out of Y,” he said.
Council was scheduled to vote on the resolution April 9.
Asked to respond to these two resolutions, Elliott provided a written statement, some of which is reproduced here and is available in full online.
“Closing a building is never easy. The decision to relocate services was based on the condition of the building that requires millions of dollars of capital, as well as an ongoing operating deficit,” Elliott wrote.
“The Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA has covered the operating deficit and repairs totaling $4.5 million over the past five
years. The annual deficits date back more than a decade to 2004, pre-dating the Pottstown Y merger into the Freedom Valley YMCA. Ninety percent of YMCA funds come from membership and program fees, five percent from fundraising and five percent from grants,” wrote Elliott.
“This income must balance with its expenses to operate its programs and buildings for the Y to be sustainable.”
Elliott also addressed community questions about a $2.8 million endowment, part-of which could have been used to repair the failing boiler now cited as one of the major capital needs underlining the decision to close.
“The donor of these funds directed $1 million towards the building campaign for the Upper Perkiomen branch. The other $1.8 million was invested, at the time of the merger, into the Pottstown building to address some of the building
infrastructure needs and to renovate the branch to
attract more members,” Elliott wrote.