As expected, the Riverwalk YMCA closed its doors on New Year’s Eve.
“The sign on the front of the main building went down on Dec. 31,” said Kurt Stringfellow, president and CEO of theYMCA of Georgia’s Piedmont Inc.
“We drained the pool water for safety reasons,” he added. “We don’t want something to happen there while it’s not manned or occupied during the daytime. “We started moving the equipment Monday and will be completely out by the end of January.”
The popular Y branch, which opened in 2008 inside the new Riverwalk Communities, was forced to close, because its ownership of the building was contingent on the repayment of the developer’s loan, and that loan went into default.
The former Peoples Bank foreclosed on the loan and was in the process of attempting to work out a formal lease agreement with Y officials when state and federal regulators closed the bank and sold it to Community & Southern Bank. CSB officials were unwilling to enter into a long-term lease with the YMCA, and without at least a three-year commitment, the Y would not be able to renew its current leases for the exercise equipment.
Stringfellow said seven of the 19 Riverwalk YMCA employees were moved to the Brad Akins branch in Winder. The rest either resigned or were laid off.
Of Riverwalk’s more than 600 membership units — which included individuals, couples and families — only 100 did not transfer their memberships to the Winder facility, Stringfellow said.
“We now have 2,800-2,900 membership units, because we picked up 500 from Riverwalk,” he said. “This has been really humbling to see so many members stay with us and give us a chance in a difficult situation.” While other Riverwalk members, along with neighboring Riverwalk homeowners, have been upset about the closure, Stringfellow said he has received more encouraging phone calls than negative.
“Nobody was celebrating, but there were more encouraging phone calls than negative,” he said. “The people that were negative were pretty upset about it. Most of those calls came from people that were Y members or homeowners.”
He said his staff did offer refunds to those who canceled their memberships.
“Our policy at the YMCA is if a person is unhappy, we don’t haggle over finances,” he said. “Anybody that paid in advance and had an unused membership, we were more than happy to provide a refund to them.”
Overall, however, he said he and other Y officials have been pleased with the response of the Riverwalk members.
“We appreciate people understanding the situation and realizing that the YMCA is more than just a place to work out. I think the members staying with us understand we are a family social organization and that we’ve got a Christian mission.”
Meanwhile, Stringfellow said he has scheduled meetings with two groups that have expressed interest in potential new arrangements with the Y.
“One is in Bethlehem and one is in the Bold Springs area of Walton County,” he said. “Both meetings will be in the next 10 days, and we’ll see.”
