Pottstown YMCA to stay open
Gulati family to buy building, renovate and lease to YMCA
POTTSTOWN » The Pottstown YMCA branch will remain open into the foreseeable future as the result of a purchase of the property by the Gulati family.
Under the agreement, the building will be repaired and refurbished, and YMCA health and wellness programs for youth, families and individuals will continue to be housed in the facility. As the main tenant, the Y will join other community athletic and wellness services that will also be housed at the newly renovated facility, according to a press release issued Wednesday morning.
The surprise announcement comes at a time that opposition to the closing of the branch, planned for June 30, was building in the
“This is a truly great collaboration.”
Sean Elliott, President & CEO of Philadelphia-Freedom Valley YMCA
Pottstown community.
Just 11 hours before the sale was announced, a meeting of more than 40 community activists gathered at the YMCA on King Street to discuss strategies for keeping the branch open, including everything from the involvement of the Pennsylvania Attorney General to enlisting the help of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now, it would seem, that those months of protests and meetings have become moot.
According to the press release, Philadelphia-Freedom Valley YMCA contacted the Gulati family as it sought a buyer for the building and the two parties have been in talks since January.
The agreement will allow the building to continue to service the community while preserving the location for Y services. The Y will lease space in the newly renovated building to run its Pottstown Y programming, including group exercise, wellness floor, swim lessons, youth sports and child watch.
Child care will run out of the new Early Learning Center in Sanatoga and will allow for more families to be served. The families (111 out of 112) currently enrolled in the program have already enrolled at the new, larger facility, according to the press release.
“The YMCA is such an important part of Pottstown and we knew we needed to do our part to keep them here,” Chuck Gulati is quoted as saying in the press release.
“We are grateful that they will remain a staple within the building. The vision is to create a facility that will house the YMCA and other businesses focused on athletics and wellness. This project will not only keep the YMCA in Pottstown, but bring new businesses and jobs to the area and help continue the revitalization of our community,” he said. “I am very excited to bring new life to a building and organization that has such a rich history in our community.” “Chuck Gulati and his family have been wonderful to work with and I have been very impressed with their community commitment,” Philadelphia-Freedom Valley YMCA President & CEO Shaun Elliott said in the release.
“While the YMCA will continue to subsidize the cost of its service delivery to the Pottstown community, the investment by the Gulati’s will make the building sustainable,” he said. “This is a truly great collaboration.”
Pottstown’s three representatives in Harrisburg also had a hand in the deal, according to the release.
“Several weeks ago at The Hill School, the PA Department of Community and Economic Development presented potential investors in Pottstown with a number of state financing tools. I was already aware of the Gulati family’s interest in a possible acquisition, so it seemed natural to bring the state programs to them to aid in their acquisition of the Y,” said state Sen. Robert Mensch, R24th Dist.
“I’m pleased to work with my colleagues to bring about a possible resolution to this issue for the benefit of the greater Pottstown community,” state Rep. Thomas Quigley, R146th Dist., said in the release.
He was joined by state Rep. Tim Hennessey, R26th Dist., who added “if this deal can happen it’s a big win for the people of Pottstown and the region.”
Even Val Arkoosh, chairwoman of the Montgomery County Commissioners, got to have her say.
“I am gratified that a solution has been found to keep the Pottstown YMCA open and serving the community. The YMCA has been an integral part of Pottstown for decades,” she said.
“I want to thank Mr. Charles Gulati who has stepped up to help the YMCA, the numerous community members who expressed their strong support to maintain the Y, the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA for listening to the community and working to find a solution” Arkoosh said.
The announcement of the sale was almost as much as the announcement last November of the branch’s closure, made without warning and without gathering any input from the community.
Elliott argued at the time that in addition to a operating deficit — a large portion of which was due to the $700,000 management fee charged to the branch — and the need for $11 million in capital costs over 10 years made it impossible to keep the building open and operating
Opposition to the closure built slowly but steadily, even within the task force assembled by the YMCA to come up with ways to continue services without a building.
Ultimately, even they, despite explicit instructions to the contrary, recommended keeping the building open.
But YMCA officials remained resolute that the building most be closed.
They also remained tight-lipped, refusing to disclose their plans for the building after it was closed during a meeting with the Pottstown branch of the NAACP even as, evidently, they were continuing negotiations with the Gulati family.
This is not the first time the Gulati family has stepped in to help a struggling non-profit with a legacy building.
In the spring of 2015, it was announced the family would take over the operation of historic Sunnybrook Ballroom in Lower Pottsgrove.
They had experience in the matter, owning both Stokesay Castle and Knight’s Pub near Reading.
They have lots of other business experience as well, as their portfolio includes the Reading Royals ice hockey team and Fidelity Technologies Corp., also both located in Reading.
Reaction to the news on the Save the Pottstown YMCA Facebook page was joyful but also contained a warning.
“WE DID IT,” a post declared, adding, “let’s celebrate and then get back to the business of making sure this never happens again! We need board representation. We need transparency from the PFVY. We need an active and engaged membership to ensure that the Y gets the funding it needs!”
“The YMCAi s such an important part of Pottstown and we knew we needed to do our part to keep them here.” Charles Gulati