North Bay's YMCA is doing just fine says its CEO. It follows news that the Sault Ste. Marie YMCA is closing.
Lorrie Turnbull is the CEO of Northeastern Ontario's North Bay YMCA branch and she tells BayToday that locally, it's business as usual.
"The way that we have our partnership with the City of North Bay is probably a really great example of how you can create an operating model that allows YMCA to avoid what we're seeing happen in the Soo," said Turnbull.
"The Community partnership we have with the City allows the YMCA to deliver aquatics programs and services through the North Bay Aquatic Centre so we deliver those as the operator, but we're not the owner. The city of North Bay owns the facility, and they look after the infrastructure and the facility costs."
Turnbull says it's the kind of partnership model that works because it allows the YMCA to do what it does best, which is delivering programs and working with people. The. municipality tends to the infrastructure, the bricks and the mortar, which is the city's expertise.
"North Bay is a great example. We're very proud of that partnership," adds Turnbull.
The Sault Ste. Marie YMCA will cease operating by May 15 and the property is listed for sale, Sault Ste. Marie YMCA interim CEO John Haddock says the organization is looking for an angel investor to purchase the $3M building to give the organization a chance at survival.
See: YMCA leadership gets earful from frustrated members blindsided by closure news
Turnbull says the most thriving YMCA centres are in communities that have municipal partnerships, and that makes the Sudbury YMCA also vulnerable.
The YMCA of Northeastern Ontario covers North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, and a few communities in between.
"Now the relationship that you see in North Bay is not something that we have in Sudbury and it causes those financial pressures that we're trying to work with the city to see what an operating model like North Bay would look like in Sudbury, and how would that help us with the sustainability and the health of this branch here and into the future."
Last year an email was sent out to thousands of YMCA members across Sudbury advising that the current financial plan for operating the YMCA and its programs at its Centre For Life venue is no longer sustainable.
See: Sudbury YMCA outlines plans to save the local downtown operation
"We still have an operating model that needs to be discovered, to ensure we have the viability of the Sudbury branch of the Northeastern YMCA. We're talking to the city, and we're not there yet."
But Turnbull is optimistic about North Bay's future.
"I'm going to say that North Bay is in a great position. It is allowing us to be sustainable as well. We look to the future and we try to ensure we continue to be relevant and meet the needs of North Bay today and into the future. It provides a level of comfort in that you're not getting all these significant financial pressures because you have a partner sitting alongside you.
"I truly commend the city. I think it was very smart."
