Olivet packs up to leave Ricketts Center
POTTSTOWN >> Questions still loom one day after the Olivet Boys and Girls Club surprised everyone by announcing it will discontinue operations at the Ricketts Community Center immediately.
The announcement came after a 10-year history of operating the center and just two days after the Pottstown Borough Council unanimously voted to provide the club with a new four-year lease to run the center.
On social media, questions ranged from why did they leave? Will the basketball or soccer program continue? Can they walk away before their contract/lease expires in December?
While none of those questions received definitive answers Thursday, one thing did become evident: Olivet is leaving. Immediately.
A visit to the landmark Beech Street center Thursday revealed workers packing up computers, books and other office supplies at the center.
Most of the lights were out and there were no children present.
The adults who were there declined to comment or to allow photos of the packing-up to be taken.
The immediate departure does not jibe with the impression Bor
ough Manager Justin Keller shared late Wednesday — that Olivet “will finish out the summer program that goes until the end of August.”
“I spoke with Chris Winters, the CEO, and he told me they will finish out the summer program,” said Keller.
“They are under contract to operate the center until the end of the year,” Keller told The Mercury. “But unfortunately, the language in the contract does not define what ‘operate the center’ means. Does it mean offering programming? That’s a little bit of a gray area,” he said.
A similar question was put to Winters.
He replied to The Mercury in an email and wrote the following: “We intend to work with Pottstown officials to provide a smooth transition of the operations of the Ricketts Center, and we intend to honor our obligations regarding Ricketts Center in good faith.”
Keller said the borough’s goal “is to keep the doors open through the end of the year. We want to work with Olivet. We don’t want this to turn into a battle,” he said.
How the doors will remain open with no adults inside to run it is another in a long list of unanswered questions.
“They can fight us, or do the right thing and help with a smooth transition to the next group,” said Keller.
Whether or not that next group is the Pottstownbased STRIVE Initiative remains yet another open question.
STRIVE is an acronym for Strengthening Tomorrow Requires Initiative and Vision. It is a Pottstownbased organization and its principals said they would return the center to its original mission.
But in July, principal Bill Robertson complained that its attempts to community with the borough and get more information were being ignored.
Contacted Thursday, STRIVE President David Charles provided a statement issued Wednesday night which said the group was “serious about taking over the space, we also felt it gave the council some necessary leverage to push the Olivet Boys and Girls Club to better meet the needs of the community. This included weekend hours and more community initiated programs.”
The statement indicated STRIVE “fully supported” council’s decision to agree to another four-year lease with Olivet.
“As it stands, STRIVE is currently focused on the rapidly approaching school year and our Created For Greatness mentorship and after school programs. We will be approaching the borough council in the next few days to assess the situation and the potential for STRIVE being involved in any way with The Ricketts Center,” the statement said.
“We understand that there is still a desperate need for a community center in Pottstown so that the youth and others have a space that is easily accessible, one that provides a level of mentorship and one that brings community a much needed sense of connection,” the statement said.
“No matter what happens in the coming days and weeks with the Ricketts Center, our mission will still be to bring the community together. We will still strive to facilitate a space for community events and programs. We will see what we can do to find new space for the programs that were being run out of the Ricketts Center so that they may continue,” said the STRIVE statement.
“We understand that there are youth within the community who were participating in programs at The Ricketts Center that got hit with some bad news this evening,” the statement concluded. “Our hope is to be there for community and to assist as much as possible in this interim period.”
In the meantime, Keller is trying to focus on moving forward.
He said STRIVE is one option for operating the center, noting “another group has come forward that may be an option as well.”
Keller declined to name that group, but First Ward Councilman Ryan Procsal told The Reading Eagle that the borough has received a proposal from the YWCA to operate the center.
A third option is for the center to be operated by the borough’s parks and recreation department, but “I’m not sure council is leaning in that direction,” said Keller.
There is no money in the current budget to operate the center. As it is, the borough is currently spending $318,000 for roof repairs and new air conditioning units at the center.
At the Aug. 7 council meeting, Keller said that project is already $100,000 over-budget.
“We’re going to move to clarify what happens next in the next few days,” said Keller. “My goal is to see the center not close, not even for one day.”
As for why Olivet did an about face, there is no official answer.
Olivet has stated its decision was based on a desire to get back to its original mission of serving youth in Reading and Berks County.
But several sources have indicated the Olivet board also grew upset with Pottstown’s criticism of the club’s past performance at Ricketts — criticism Board President Gary Redner publicly acknowledged in May was warranted.
All Winters will say in its statement is “we have appreciated the support of the Pottstown community, which truly cares about its young people, and have confidence that borough officials will use the Ricketts Center for the best of the community.
Perhaps the most unusual perspective on the surprise announcement came from Councilman Joe Kirkland, who represents the Seventh Ward where the center is located.
He did not return an email or phone message Wednesday, but Wednesday night, he responded to a Mercury Tweet about the center’s closing with a Tweet of his own.
He simple referenced a Bible verse: “1 Kings 3:25-26” which has to do with King Solomon’s order to divide a living child in two so that each of two women claiming to be its mother can have half.