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Can Burlington City save its YMCA? Members dismayed by Riverfront branch’s impending closure.

“It is tough,” Burlington City Mayor Barry Conaway said of the decision. “It is difficult. ... The Y made a business decision.”

Seniors and YMCA members working out in their Zumba class at the Burlington-Riverfront YMCA in Burlington City last week. The Burlington-Riverfront YMCA will close in late August.
Seniors and YMCA members working out in their Zumba class at the Burlington-Riverfront YMCA in Burlington City last week. The Burlington-Riverfront YMCA will close in late August.Read moreANTHONY PEZZOTTI / Staff Photographer

When Michael Chatman heads to the Burlington-Riverfront YMCA for a workout, his kids enthusiastically ask if they can come, too.

“It’s a good bonding experience for me and the kids,” said Chatman, a 35-year-old father of three, as he halted his afternoon exercise session. Just two rows of machines behind him, his children leaned back while pumping their feet on the stationary-bike pedals.

This Y, in Burlington City — equipped with a pool, wellness center, studio, and a basketball court — feels like home, Chatman said. People say “Hi” to each other.

On this July afternoon, a steady stream of cars were pulling up to the front doors of the Y to drop off children toting basketballs and drawstring bags. Senior citizens filled the dance studio, mingling with friends in their afternoon class.

Soon, the Chatman family and many others will have to find somewhere else to go. The Greater Philadelphia YMCA recently announced it would close the Riverfront branch on Aug. 30, citing low membership and costly building maintenance.

The Y has encouraged the members to use other branches approximately 10 miles away in Mount Laurel and Northeast Philadelphia after the Riverfront location closes.

Jennie Painter, a Burlington Township resident who has used this Y for eight years, pondered how she would fit fitness into her schedule regularly once the Y closes. She currently exercises five days per week.

With a sigh and a tangible pause, she said she will “probably most likely” use the Mount Laurel location, but she is unsure how often she’ll go.

“This facility is good for so many people of all ages," she said, noting the sense of camaraderie members share. “Lots of seniors feel isolated if they don’t have something like this.”

As metal weights clanked and sounds of Zumba music filled the hallway, Burlington City resident Jill Kerr paused to lament the Y’s closure.

Kerr said that for many senior citizens who use this Y, making the trek elsewhere is “cumbersome” — and in the winter when the roads become treacherous, the trip simply won’t be possible.

“I’m not going to be able to work out as often,” she said.

In a letter sent to members June 19, Aimee Smith, the branch’s executive director, wrote: “The decision to close is being made now because the facility and membership issues have gotten to the point of affecting quality, service and safety.... We recognize this is not the preferred decision for some of our members and appreciate your understanding of this difficult situation.”

Greater Philadelphia YMCA chief executive Shaun Elliott said the YMCA chose not to renew its lease on the building, which the City of Burlington owns, because of declining membership and structural problems with the facility, particularly the roof. The Y has operated there for about 20 years.

This Y branch serves around 1,300 members, Elliott said — roughly one-third the number of members other branches of the Greater Philadelphia YMCA serve on average. He said he estimates the Y would need about 3,000 members to keep this branch open.

Asked if the Y would consider keeping the branch open if that number were reached, he said, the Y “would take a look at that. But that’s not been the case.”

For the last several years, the branch has operated at a loss of several hundred thousand dollars annually. Just last year, he said, the branch lost upward of $600,000.

Other Greater Philadelphia YMCA branches have sustained the Burlington-Riverfront facility for years, Elliott said.

“Of course, at the end of the day, we have to be able to balance our books,” he said.

Officials are working to determine a new location for the Women’s Opportunity Center, also housed in the building, Elliott said.

Staff members — seven full-time and between 30 and 40 part-time — have been offered positions at other branches, he said.

Many Y members said the announcement came as a surprise. It prompted swift action in hopes of saving the facility, with more than 400 people signing a petition to keep the Riverfront Y open. The petitions were delivered to Burlington City officials at the July 2 city council meeting.

Addressing those at the council session, Mayor Barry Conaway vowed to deliver the petitions to the YMCA, but said he would not promise that the Y could be saved.

He ruled out the city’s taking on the financial burden of operating the facility, saying Burlington is not in a position to manage a pool by taxing its residents.

However, city officials are not looking to demolish the building, he said, and will consider offers that make financial sense for the city.

“It is tough,” he said. “It is difficult.... The Y made a business decision.”

Hopefully, Conaway said, a financial backer will come forward who is interested in offering services similar to the Y.

Last year, the Pottstown Y nearly closed for the same reason: It was operating at a loss in a building that was costly to maintain.

And the news upset members for essentially the same reason: both Y branches serve less-affluent areas that benefit from the organization’s programs.

At the Riverfront Y, 57 percent of the clients receive financial assistance for membership fees, Elliott said. Several members deemed the closure an affront to the Y’s service-oriented mission of helping communities flourish.

But the Pottstown Y found its hero in Chuck Gulati, a Phoenixville native who bought the Y and kept its doors open.

Several members told The Inquirer they would have liked to see the Y do more to save the Riverfront branch.

“I feel like it could have been saved, but I guess they really didn’t put in the time,” said Andre N’Diaye, 18, who has been a Riverfront Y member for the last four to five years.

Despite the Y’s existing fundraising efforts, Elliott said, “it is very difficult to get an ongoing sponsor that’s going to fund an operation’s losses.”

For now, Riverfront Y members are still in search of a hero.

Twirling his basketball in the air as he walked down the hallway, Jerel Wallace, 21, of Willingboro, said he has come to this Y for the last six years and now works as a lifeguard there.

On his way out the door, Wallace said, “I guess all good things come to an end eventually."