Brooklyn YMCA To Close By the End of the Year
I wanted to make sure that we all knew about the impending closing of the Brooklyn Y by the end of the year. Please read this article in the Plain Dealer to get the details. Chances are no matter what we do as a neighborhood; the YMCA will close at the corner of the Brooklyn Brighton bridge. After all, the board of directors of the YMCA have said that they must close facilities to be able to continue to offer the programs of the YMCA’s mission. Residential facilities are probably more of a problem than they are worth and it stands to reason that these facilities would be the ones put up for sale.
We in this community are at another crossroads. We need to see this as an opportunity for a new venture in our neighborhood. One that can define how we are preceived by those who pass through our community each day. Years ago when the rumors that the Y would be closing soon, Gloria Janos suggested looking into having a youth hostel such as they have in Europe at that location.
With the completion of the Towpath trail on the horizon and the plans that the Friends of Big Creek have for that waterway and watershed in our community, maybe this is an idea that we should explore. We should dream big on this one, folks. We should not allow others to talk us into settling for less. This is our community and we should be at the table when the decisions are made concerning this crucial piece of property in our midst. Remember, those of us who live and work in this community are the stakeholders.
Point of Information: The Brooklyn YMCA is located in the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood.
May 31st, 2006 at 10:55 pm
[...] Gloria Ferris » Blog Archive » Brooklyn YMCA To Close By the End of the Year [...]
May 31st, 2006 at 11:53 pm
The article stated that “[f]ees from the association’s 31,149 members cover about 74 percent of its costs.”
Call me crazy, increase fees by a third, problem solved. Membership at the Brooklyn Y is ludicrously cheap to begin with.
June 1st, 2006 at 8:09 am
A few years ago there was talk that the Y would manage a fitness center that MetroHealth would build on their campus. Maybe the merger has finalized. I really think that the key to these closings is to get out of the rental business. We all know that that business is rapidly changing and has a lot of issues today.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:18 am
gloria,
i’m glad someone is thinking about this. having grown up with the big creek as my extended back yard, i’d like to do what i can to help. so, i offer you some inspiration from nyc where a group of citizens came togehter to save a riverside park. while our situation is not quite the same, it’s similar in that it involves an underaprreciated natural resource and the immense power of a small group of people who believe in making a change.
http://www.civic-strategies.com/resources/news/026.htm
hopefully this can-do mentality will permeate the design of what can be a beautiful new public space behind the riverview towers on w. 25th.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:10 pm
The Brooklyn Y was my first residence in Cleveland (summer 1985). Bob West checked me in that first day… and he’s STILL THERE.