YMCA, school district explore building new facility on Sussman Middle School campus
The front entrance to the Downey YMCA. Photo by Eric Pierce
DOWNEY – After years of burst pipes, flooded locker rooms, cracked pools, and other costly emergency repairs, Downey civic leaders believe it’s finally time for a new YMCA.
Preliminary discussions are underway between the Downey YMCA and Downey Unified School District that could result in a new YMCA facility on the Sussman Middle School campus.
Officials with the YMCA and school district cautioned this week that talks are still in the exploratory stages. However, both sides expressed optimism that a shared facility could be mutually beneficial.
“Our goal and our hope is we can partner with the school district to make this happen and our goal would be to put it on Sussman,” said Steve Roberson, a longtime board member with the Downey YMCA.
“This has to be a real partnership,” he said. “Nobody’s coming out the winner in this. This isn’t somebody going in and getting more than somebody else. If it’s a win-win for the school district and the Y, it’s a win-win for the city.”
The Downey YMCA has operated at its current facility at 11531 Downey Ave. since 1962. As recently as three years ago, the Y’s board of managers considered investing millions of dollars to renovate the property before deciding an entirely new facility built from the ground up made more sense.
“The way that it’s laid out and configured is not conducive to modern YMCA uses where they create and build more flexible spaces and larger spaces that can be used for different things,” said Lori Tiffany, executive director of the Downey YMCA. “We have three floors but no elevator. If we chose to renovate the current facility, we’d have to get ADA compliant and an elevator could easily cost a million dollars.”
In September, the Downey Board of Education approved a memorandum of understanding to enter formal discussions with the YMCA. A meeting between the YMCA and a school board subcommittee is scheduled for next week.
Dr. John Garcia, superintendent of Downey Unified, lauded the YMCA but cautioned there are many details yet to be worked out.
“When we do school district construction, we’re not subject to city regulations, however, when you enter into a joint agreement with a non-profit or another organization, now you’re bringing in city regulations as well. So, there are some other moving pieces that we have to continue to work through,” Garcia said. “It’s definitely going to be a lengthy process and we’re just at the beginnings of that process now.
“Certainly the board has voted it’s worthy of a discussion but it definitely has to be something that works for both the school district and the Y. There have to be those mutual benefits and what those benefits are are in the process of being fleshed out.”
Lori Tiffany, Downey YMCA executive director, and Greg Welch, chairman of the Downey YMCA board of managers. Photo by Eric Pierce
School board president Nancy Swenson agreed.
“We just gave to the go-ahead to talk,” she said. “It’s going to be a long-term thing, and who’s to say it’s even going to happen. We’re now just investigating, is the way I look at it.”
A new YMCA would occupy approximately 30,000 square feet, about half the size of the current facility. It would cost about $15 million to $20 million to build, said Roberson.
If the project moves forward, the YMCA would sell its current property and surrounding parcels for an estimated $10 million and lease back the site while the new Y is built.
The YMCA’s board of managers would then launch a capital campaign to raise the remaining balance.
“We had a study conducted to see if we had the ability to raise that money and the Metropolitan Y thinks we can raise the money,” said Roberson. “We have a really good feeling that we can do it.”
A YMCA shared between the public and school district isn’t unprecedented. The Collins & Katz YMCA in West L.A. is located on the campus of University High School and has separate entrances and workout areas for students and the public. Downey school officials toured the facility in August.
Representatives from both the school district and YMCA acknowledged that a shared center could have benefits.
“A lot of people still think of the Y as a gym,” said Tiffany, the executive director. “And we’re a community service organization. We’re going to build a Y based on the needs of the community and the needs of the school.”