No senior citizens are working out in the Silver Sneakers program. There are no mommies participating in the “Mommy and Me” classes. After shutting down their public programs in March with little warning to members or staff, the heads of the Hoboken-North Hudson YMCA say the facility is just on hiatus, and is waiting to make a comeback when it receives funding approvals.
At a meeting of the YMCA Board of Directors on Wednesday, March 17, former Executive Director Julie Gallanty told the board that the finances of the cash-strapped institution would not extend to another pay period. Thus, it was time to close the doors.
“The YMCA is going to survive.” – Paul Somerville
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Some members had recently paid for a year’s membership and were furious.
The only component of the Y that remained open was the housing for the low-income men who live there, which most officials agreed was the highest priority.
On that Friday, a misleading press release was taped to the door at 1301 Washington St. stating that the YMCA was closing to begin a $15 million renovation project that had been in the works for nearly a decade.
But many people knew something was strange because the facility closed so suddenly.
Board members later admitted that the project wasn’t exactly the reason for closing. Money was.
Kept hoping for last-minute funds
“We really just ran out of funds,” said board President Paul Somerville last week.
Somerville has dedicated 10 years of his life to the volunteer board. He said the board never planned to shut down all services during renovations, and had expected to “carefully choreograph” construction around the ongoing programs as best they could.
But funding for the construction project stalled over the past two years. At the same time, the institution was bleeding money.
Like most non-profit organizations, the Y has always operated “close to the bone financially,” Somerville said. So when the board was hit with a “perfect storm” of construction delays, the economic downturn, and increased competition with other gyms for memberships, they hit the proverbial bone.
“We’ve been miraculously saved on many occasions,” Somerville said. “We’ve always managed to pull through somehow.”
But not this time.
Officials are still optimistic that the renovation project will commence over the summer, but has the damage been done in the eyes of the public?
One former board member who asked to remain anonymous said the board knew 20 months before the closing that finances would come to the point of no return, but that most board members were willing to take the risk of closure given the possibility of being saved by emergency donations or by funding being approved for the renovations.
Last year, Councilwoman Beth Mason contributed $20,000 to the Y for utility bills that hadn’t been paid.
“There was no white knight [this time],” said fellow YMCA board member Bob Ferrie, owner of Union Dry Dock.
One thing is certain: After 140 years operating in Hoboken, the Y had to close in order to have a chance to reopen.
Prioritizing
First and foremost, the YMCA is a “social service agency,” Somerville said; so the low-income men took priority over the swimming pool and other programs. The 96 single room occupancies are among the last remaining in Hudson County. Residents are charged a minimal fee that is determined by their ability to pay, and the federal government reimburses the Y for the remaining cost of the residences.
“Keeping a roof over those men’s heads was more important than a yoga class,” Somerville said. Somerville, a civically-minded interior designer by trade, said he may have strong feelings in this regard because he was homeless at one point in his life.
Don’t misunderstand him, though; he’s not ignoring the cries of foul by the public who use the gym and programs offered by the Y, or the employees who were sent packing at the last minute. He sympathizes with them.
According to Somerville, the board and management at the Y believe they did everything they could to stave off closure until the final day.
Ferrie said last week, “Frankly, I’m a little surprised that people were caught off guard.” Since the institution had been scraping for funds and flirting with financial collapse for years – although not entirely publically – he said it should not have been such a surprise.
“I think a lot of us saw it coming, but we were able to [avoid] it more than once,” Ferrie said.
He said some board members argued as the end got closer that the institution should stop taking membership fees at some point.
“Those conversations took place,” Ferrie said, “but there was always funding coming through [at the last minute].”
Feeling burned
“The aftermath is something we’ll be dealing with for a long time,” Somerville said last week. “We’re aware of our members’ grievances. We wish we could have given them more warning. When we can, we will refund those people’s memberships.”
The board is offering three months free membership to all members who were active as of March 15 once the Y reopens following renovations. Some members have offered their payments as donations, Somerville said thankfully.
As far as the employees, he said almost all are collecting unemployment while they assumedly try to find new jobs. “That was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my life,” Somerville said of the mass layoff.
Ferrie said, “This was not done purposefully to hurt people in any way, shape, or form.”
Government funding for renovations
The sweeping renovation project will add a fifth floor to the 1927 building. It is scheduled to occur in two parts.
The major $12 million portion pertaining to the low-income residences and ADA and other compliance requirements is governmentally-funded through federal tax credits and other sources. But the process to be approved for the funding and to convert the tax credits into upfront capital to fund the project is painstaking and complex.
Several hurdles were cleared just as new ones appeared, according to the board members; some hurdles still lie ahead.
Although the funding process was difficult, Somerville said it was a “very successful template used by other YMCAs.”
To further complicate the situation, some of the professionals hired for the project were “fired, sued, or settled with,” he said, although a confidentiality agreement bars him from saying much more. “We were on our knees for two years,” Somerville admitted.
Ferrie said there was also an inherent risk in the way the project was financed. “Until you get the funding stream approved [long after money and time has been spent on the project],” he said, “You kind of [have to] jump off a cliff.”
The second part of the project – the more cosmetic upgrades to the “swim-and-gym” side of the building – is still not funded. The Y has looked for private donations, but needs more to meet the expected cost of $1-2 million.
Somerville said this phase will wait until after the major part of the project is complete, at which time it may be easier to solicit donations or bank loans if need be.
Avoiding sale and moving forward
During the bleak times over the past two years, the board has discussed selling the property. In an upscale, booming part of Hoboken near the waterfront, the edifice would command a high price.
At least one member was pushing the board in that direction.
“The thought of selling the building has probably come up several times over the years,” Somerville said. “There was a moment there [recently] when we thought that might happen.”
Ferrie said he thought it would have been a mistake – especially in a downturned market – and that the building would have sat vacant for years before netting the institution money to find alternate space.
In order to keep the project moving forward, the county has twice advanced portions of federal funding to the institution, even once in the past few weeks.
“The county has stepped up,” Ferrie said, crediting Hoboken-based County Freeholder Anthony Romano for taking up the Y’s charge.
On whether the renovations will take flight soon, Ferrie said, “I’m more optimistic than I was six months ago.”
Somerville said, “The difference between a month ago and today is that we were potentially planning for a death and a funeral. Now we’re planning for a birth and a renaissance. This is mostly a good news story because the YMCA is going to survive.”
They expect to receive funding approvals this summer.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.