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HomeNewsYMCA of Middle Tennessee to close North Clarksville location

YMCA of Middle Tennessee to close North Clarksville location

YMCA announces closures, expansion of Donelson-Hermitage location as part of ongoing long-term sustainability plan

Clarksville's YMCANashville, TN – The YMCA of Middle Tennessee announced today it will close two subsidized wellness centers and will make a strategic reinvestment in an existing facility as part of the nonprofit’s ongoing financial sustainability efforts to ensure long-term fiscal stability systemwide.

The Harding Place and North Clarksville locations will close on or before May 15th, 2015, and an expansion of the Donelson-Hermitage YMCA location is planned to increase capacity to serve more members, including those displaced by the Harding Place closure, many of whom already utilize the Donelson location.

YMCA of Middle Tennessee

The Wadlington Tennis Center, a stand-alone warehouse space located near the Donelson-Hermitage Y, will also cease operation on June 30th.

Altogether, the combined operating losses of these three facilities exceed $850,000 annually.

President and CEO Dan Dummermuth says the closures and planned facility expansion reflect the organization’s ongoing commitment to financial sustainability.

“Like every nonprofit organization, we have a responsibility to monitor the financial sustainability of all of our operations to ensure long-term fiscal health. An ongoing focus on sustainability is a critical part of good stewardship, so it’s always top-of-mind for us. As conditions in our communities change, we must be willing to change, too, in order to preserve our Y for future generations,” stated Dummermuth.

The North Clarksville location, a leased facility that opened in that city in December 2013, did not perform as projected during its first full year of operation, and Dummermuth says its current membership is not sufficient to sustain the facility long-term.

“While we are disappointed that we won’t be able to continue offering wellness services in a location that’s more convenient for North Clarksville residents, we’re very fortunate to have a strong and viable membership center on Hillcrest Drive that can continue to operate programs like Day Camp, After Breast Cancer and Learn to Swim for residents of both north and south Clarksville,” said Dummermuth.

When the North Clarksville facility closes, members will receive free, one-month passes to use any of the other 16 centers in the YMCA of Middle Tennessee association, including the Clarksville Area YMCA Kimbrough Family Center on Hillcrest Drive.

The Y will continue to provide day camp pick-up in the North Clarksville area so it can continue to serve summer campers, whose programs will not be interrupted as a result of the closure.

Costly capital needs, new Y facilities and planned expansion were all factors in Harding Place decision; community-based programs will continue.

The Harding Place facility became a YMCA in 1992 when it was purchased from American Fitness Center. While about 2,800 households have memberships at the center, more than a quarter of them regularly utilize other Y locations.

In addition, the aging facility is in need of costly repairs, and Y leaders believe members will be better served by newer facilities that have opened in the area in recent years. The nearby Southern Hills YMCA is located just two miles from the Harding Place facility, and the Christ Church YMCA is located within five miles.

When the facility closes, members will receive free, one-month passes to use any of the other 16 centers in the YMCA of Middle Tennessee association. The Y also plans to continue offering its community-based programs in the area, like Latino Achievers and Y-Literacy, and it will continue to operate the pool at Glencliff High School where dozens of MNPS first-graders receive free swim lessons through the Y’s Learn to Swim program.

Chief Operating Officer Bob Knestrick says that while the decision to close Harding Place was extremely difficult, the proximity of other, newer facilities offers alternatives that would not have been available in prior years.

“There’s a lot of overlap in the service areas of our Harding Place, Donelson-Hermitage, Christ Church and Southern Hills locations. We believe we can ultimately offer our current Harding Place members a better experience at other nearby locations.”

One of those other locations will be the Donelson-Hermitage Family YMCA where a number of Harding Place members already attend. An expansion is planned for the family wellness center located on Lebanon Pike, which continues to see increasing demand from members located throughout Nashville’s southern and eastern corridors.

The Y plans to add additional group exercise and wellness space to accommodate displaced Harding Place members and the more than 7,000 households who belong to the Donelson location.

Restructuring is a continuation of analysis launched in 2013

[320rightThese restructuring decisions are a continuation of the work begun by a joint staff- and volunteer-task force formed in 2013 to evaluate long-term financial sustainability for the organization. After transitioning into the CEO role in 2014, Dummermuth felt it was important for the group’s work to continue.

“The greater Nashville area is changing so rapidly that we want to be sure we’re positioning our Y for success now and in the future. We don’t have unlimited resources, and we have a responsibility to determine how we can maximize our impact within those resources. The Harding Place Y has been an incredible community asset for nearly 23 years, and we’re grateful we were able to provide wellness services in North Clarksville over the last year, but we do feel that there are other ways we can use our resources to continue serving those communities.”

The YMCA of Middle Tennessee currently operates 18 family wellness centers that serve nearly 85,000 households. The closures at the two wellness centers and tennis operation impact about 4,000 households (or 5 percent of the Y’s total membership base).

About the YMCA

The YMCA of Middle Tennessee is a nonprofit, worldwide charitable fellowship united by a  common loyalty to Jesus Christ for the purpose of helping people grow in spirit, mind and body.

For more than 139 years, the YMCA of Middle Tennessee has been giving people of all ages the tools they need to learn, grow and thrive. Last year, the YMCA reached more than 311,000 lives—one of every six people in the 8-county area it serves—by nurturing the potential of children and teens, improving the nation’s health and well-being, and providing opportunities to serve others and support our neighbors.

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