Tecumseh no longer a YMCA after Dec. 21

SPRINGFIELD — The Tecumseh YMCA, currently facing foreclosure unless it can raise $175,000 by December 23, was recently informed it can no longer remain a member of the YMCA national organization.

In a letter dated Dec. 11, YMCA of the USA stated its board was unable to offer an extension to Tecumseh, which was out of compliance for 2008 certification and “not financially sustainable.”

“We were deeply concerned about the impact of this situation on the YMCA name and reputation both in your immediate community and surrounding areas,” the letter stated.

Once terminated, a Y cannot be reinstated under its current structure, said Brad McDermott, YMCA of the USA spokesman. “They would need to reorganize and re-apply as a newly-incorporated association.”

“We can continue to operate as a family facility since we are an independent 501(c)(3), but we will no longer have the YMCA brand. ... The community will continue to have all the services and benefits of the YMCA. It will just have a different name,” said Kelli Whitt, transitional operations director.

In her estimation, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The letter stated the Tecumseh Y must dissolve its charter no later than December 21, which doesn’t give Whitt and her staff much time to make the necessary changes.

“If we don’t meet our fundraising goal, then the national YMCA is in no way liable. This was a strictly financial decision for them,” she said.

The swim team has been displaced and will have to affiliate with another YMCA to finish out the season.

“Springfield’s Y has been great and opened up an opportunity for our kids to swim,” Whitt said.

Final details regarding the swim team’s future are still being worked out, she said, but the team will be able to finish out the season.

The Save the Tecumseh YMCA fund, established to raise enough money to pay off the organization’s debt, has $86,000 pledged of the total needed to keep the facility’s doors open.

New Carlisle Federal Bank is buying and refinancing the mortgage from PNC/National City Bank. The Turner Foundation has agreed to pay the principal and the Y is responsible for the interest.

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