Rec Center partners?
YMCA in discussion to operate city-owned facility
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published Feb 27, 2008

For city officials and two regional health and wellness powers, three heads could be better than one when it comes to the North Olmsted Recreation Center.

City administration officials said they are continuing “strong” negotiations with the YMCA of Greater Cleveland as well as Fairview Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic to take a major role in operating the Recreation Center.

North Olmsted Mayor Thomas O’Grady said if the city is ultimately successful in bringing the YMCA and hospital into the Recreation Center, everybody involved would benefit.

“We’ve been talking with the YMCA longer, but Fairview Hospital is also showing strong interest in making this work for all of us,” O’Grady said. “This is a proposal which would make it a facility which could meet the needs of the community and other people who use the facility.”

O’Grady said the YMCA could utilize its experience and management skills to operate the facility while the hospital would provide equipment and  expertise in exercise, rehabilitation and related areas.

“It would be a great partnership for all of us,” O’Grady said. “The Center would remain a city facility, but it would be run by the YMCA, and Fairview Hospital would have a presence as well.”

Glenn Haley, chief  executive officer for the Greater Cleveland YMCA, said his organization would like to make the recreation center involvement with the YMCA an integral part of the community — like in the nearby city of Avon.

“We’re excited by the possibilities of all of this,” Haley said. “We want to make the communities we’re involved with stronger by our being there.”

Haley said the organization typically sees an increase in people coming to their facilities after the YMCA becomes involved with or upgrades a site.

“We have proven programs which people will respond to,” he said. “When we expand facilities, we draw more interest from the surrounding area.”

He said Fairview Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic also would be a good fit.

“Like us, they have a strong commitment to the Greater Cleveland area,” Haley said.

Haley said partnering with a community like North Olmsted, which already has a strong interest in recreational programs and facilities, is a plus for the YMCA.

“There clearly is a lot of interest in the programs at the center,” he said. “We’re confident that we can draw even more interest.”

O’Grady emphasized that the city is still putting together its final proposal for how the recreation center and related city facilities will be run in future years. He cited interest shown by a number of area residents who spoke at the Feb. 19 City Council meeting and also sent a letter to City Council expressing concern about having sufficient public input into the process.

“Sometimes things can get misconstrued or taken out of context,” he said, noting that there had been major concerns in late 2006 and early 2007 about the city shutting down the ice rink. A number of citizens and groups had expressed concerns about the city shutting the rink down permanently. However, the city closed it for repairs in the spring and opened it again several weeks later.

“We have not made any final decisions like that or in other areas,” O’Grady said. “We have had a number of public meetings, focus groups and discussions, and we will have more.”

O’Grady said the city still tentatively plans to have a ballot issue for people to consider, most likely in November.

“We think people will be pleasantly surprised about how we propose handling all of this,” he said. “We know that people are concerned about paying for this and having programs they want. That’s why we continue to discuss and shape it.”

City Council Finance Committee Chairman Michael Gareau Jr. said getting organzations like the YMCA and Fairview Hospital involved would be a plus.

“Nowadays, you need strong partnerships,” Gareau said. “They can bring additional resources to us that we couldn’t get on our own without a major cost. This is worth exploring.”

O’Grady said the administration plans to bring a formal proposal to the public in March for further discussion.