By Dominik Lobkowicz
The Central Lincoln County YMCA board has canceled its plans to turn the former A.D. Gray Middle School building into the Waldoboro YMCA. (D. Lobkowicz photo, LCN file) |
The board of the Central Lincoln County YMCA voted the morning of May 13 to terminate its lease of the former A.D. Gray school building from the town of Waldoboro, according to
CLC Y Executive Director Meagan Hamblett.
Voters in Waldoboro approved a lease/transfer of ownership of the school to the CLC Y in September 2012, according to The Lincoln County News archives.
The agreement included a five-year lease, after which ownership would transfer to the Y. If the venture failed within the first five years, ownership would return to
the town, according to the News archives.
At the same referendum, voters approved placing funds from the Anne Gay Bailey trust in escrow to be used to for improvements in the school building.
According to a May 13 press release from the Y, the organization does not have future plans for renovating or building a YMCA facility in Waldoboro, but plans to
continue serving the community.
Programming in Waldoboro via the Y is planned to continue, Hamblett said. Activities including fitness, art, and cultural events have been ongoing at Old Number 9 in
downtown Waldoboro, a collaboration known as the “Waldoboro YMCA Without Walls.”
“It’s more than just coincidence that as the emphasis of our efforts over the past year have shifted away from the A.D. Gray facility, the stronger the groundswell
of support for programming has become. This decision is the culmination of that realization,” said board Chair Dennis Anderson in the press release. “So we will continue to
focus on relationships and programming and not let that positive energy get diluted by unrealistic expectations concerning the building.”
According to the release, the board’s vote was based on its primary commitment to its Damariscotta location and the addition of an aquatics facility; that “[t]he
big question of will the addition of a branch YMCA in Waldoboro promote fiscal viability and results that are financially sustainable was ultimately too large a leap in faith –
one the current board is no longer willing to risk;” and that volunteers, financial support, and programming needs need to come from within Waldoboro.
“With the exception of a handful of dedicated volunteers, there hasn’t been enough support to demonstrate the ability to sustain a facility there, at this time,”
according to the release.
Clint Collamore, chair of the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen, called The Lincoln County News May 13 to comment on the Y board’s decision.
“Obviously the town is quite devastated by this,” Collamore said. “There’s been a lot of time and community effort and volunteer time and money and whatnot. I just
really thought that something was a go up there.”
Collamore anticipates the select board having discussions on the subject in the future.
“It’ll be a letdown, I think, for a lot of people,” he said.
Kyle Santheson, the town’s recreation director, said he was “pretty disappointed” with the Y board’s vote to terminate the lease.
“What’s going to happen in the future, I can’t even begin to imagine at this point,” he said.
Charlotte Davenhill, a Waldoboro resident and a member of the Y’s board, however, said she remains encouraged.
“All I can say is, as a board member, I’m very aware of the Y’s commitment to what we’ve got going in Waldoboro. There are two different approaches to this whole
thing, and one is about bricks and mortar and one is about programming,” Davenhill said. “The Y Without Walls is working pretty darn well, I think.”
“There’s the inevitability of people identifying the whole thing with a building, but really, it’s not. That’s something we’re going to have to kind of get past,”
she said.
Regarding funding for the project, $211,850.71 has been spent from the Anne Gay Bailey trust on improvements at the school building such as a new roof, asbestos
removal, lighting in the parking lot, and other projects, according to Santheson.
“The building will transfer back to the town as-is, and the investment in that building stays with the town,” Hamblett said. Any work done on the building has been
paid for through the trust, she said.
Hamblett estimates about $73,000 has been raised in support of the Waldoboro YMCA project, and has been put into a separate account.
The CLC Y is prepared to speak with key donors and discuss their wishes for the funds they donated.
“If they want their money and it was only to go into a building for the YMCA, we’re prepared to give the money back,” Hamblett said.
At a meeting in November 2014, people involved with the project said around $1.9 million beyond the money already spent on the building and grounds would be needed
to complete the renovations, not including about $200,00 worth of “soft costs” for fitness equipment, telephones, and the like.
