Y to keep its old W. Chester building

The YMCA in West Chester will remain open after all.

It was to be sold after a new facility opened five months ago in East Goshen. But business has nearly doubled at the new place, officials say, and the Y has decided to keep its old building in use.

"I think we opened with far more members than we anticipated," Bruce Griffin, executive director of the West Chester Area YMCA, said yesterday.

With old members, new members and New Year's resolution hopefuls, the new Y's facilities and parking lot were filled. And the organization realized it could offer more youth programs at the old West Chester site.

So yesterday, the YMCA pulled off the market its Chestnut Street building, which once was listed for sale at $6 million.

To address one of the overcrowding issues, the YMCA approached East Goshen Township officials on Wednesday night with a proposal to lease 138 parking spaces from the National Bank of Malvern, which plans to build next door. The Y's staff members park offsite and are shuttled to work.

Griffin said officials also have adjusted some program scheduling to alleviate overcrowding inside the facility.

Some West Chester residents and borough officials were bitter when the YMCA of Brandywine pulled out of its downtown location - after having a presence there for more than a century - and moved to East Goshen.

They even formed a Save the Y committee in hope of keep the facility within walking distance of downtown.

William J. Scott Jr., a founder of the Save the Y group, said he was "very glad to hear of" the latest decision. Scott, a candidate for West Chester mayor, said he hoped the YMCA and residents could work together on plans for the facility.

The YMCA plans to continue with limited youth programs, open a child-care facility, and move its PAL afterschool program from its current Market Street location to the older building. Officials also will relocate the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley Association offices from Coatesville to West Chester.

While many were hoping that the downtown pools would reopen, Griffin said that they would be filled in and that turf fields would be placed on top.

"There were key mechanical concerns," said Griffin, adding that the pools were old, outdated, and expensive to run.

Nationally, membership in the YMCA of the USA has jumped by two million in the last five years, leading to the largest membership in its 157 years in the United States, the organization says.

Among the 12 branches that form the YMCA of Philadelphia and Vicinity, membership has increased this year by 4 percent to 60,000 members, said John Flynn, the organization's president and chief executive officer. The association includes branches in Philadelphia, Montgomery and Delaware Counties.

Flynn attributes the jump in Philadelphia to the Y's affordability for families and the stability of membership costs. Fees did not increase this year, and they range from $550 for an adult to about $850 for a family.

In New Jersey, Mark D. Parker, general director of the Gloucester County YMCA in Woodbury, said memberships there were either level or growing very slightly.

In West Chester, Griffin says the Y eventually hopes to offer other youth sports programs, such as gymnastics, dance, karate, and some limited programs for adults along with an express fitness center and racquetball courts.

He expects the cost of renovation to be around $1.5 million.

"We will give it a new look and complete overhaul inside so you are basically walking into a new Y," Griffin said.