At a critical juncture

July 12, 2016

Washington, Iowa

To the Editor:

I have had the privilege of serving on the YMCA Board of Directors for seven years and have witnessed the amazing growth of the organization especially in the past four years. Expanding YMCA programs and services throughout Washington County has benefited the City of Washington significantly! The YMCA is in a much healthier financial state today than it has been for a very long time due to increased membership and program offerings.

The board of directors spent many hours in dialogue over several years? time before reaching the decision that a capital campaign should be launched for a new YMCA facility in the City of Washington. This included an analysis of the current YMCA building along with an estimate for remodeling and expanding that facility to remain in the downtown location and vetting of several possible locations other than the current site. For a myriad of reasons, the decision was made to build a new facility at the proposed location just north of downtown.

We are at a critical juncture of the capital campaign and the board of directors has been contemplating ?Plan B? if the bond referendum scheduled for Aug. 2 would fail. Because of the many structural and space issues related to the current facility, the board has agreed that a new YMCA building will be constructed regardless of the outcome of the bond vote. Some extremely difficult decisions will need to be made if this is the scenario. Without the full $10.8 million, significant cuts will need to be made to the new facility. Use of facility space, revenue from programs utilizing those spaces, and ongoing costs related to program space will be evaluated before making a final decision. This is obviously not the best solution for the full scope of programs/services currently being offered by the YMCA.

Please consider supporting the bond referendum on Aug. 2 so that the YMCA can continue to provide all of its quality programs into the future!

Watch local media and the Y website/Facebook pages for upcoming open house information where you can tour the current facility and have your questions answered.

Edie Nebel

YMCA Board President