Longtime Rochester YMCA to close this month

The Rochester YMCA facility will close its doors by the end of the month, bringing to an end a nearly 60-year presence downtown.

The surprise announcement was sent out to members on Tuesday by Glen Gunderson, president of YMCA of the North. He said the pandemic has affected the Rochester Y’s ability to operate in a sustainable way.

“Our current Rochester Y facility is oversized and operationally inefficient and has distracted from the Y’s ability to fully respond to community needs,” Gunderson said in the email. “The Y’s model of a large fitness center is evolving with a renewed focus on aligning skills, resources and programs that serve all in our community.

“We have determined that we must close our Rochester Family YMCA center and focus on providing programs and services in the Rochester community in convenient and accessible locations. The last day the Rochester Y building will be open is January 31, 2022.”

Leaders of the Y had stressed for years that the current facility was declining, though the decision to close this month still caught many members — including this writer — off-guard. 

Up until last year, the Rochester Y had been involved in plans to collaborate with the University of Minnesota Rochester on a future campus build-out. The Y, however, pulled out of those plans as Covid-19 hit. The Rochester Y has been operating at less than 50 percent of where it was pre-pandemic.

“The square footage for the amount of people we are currently serving is not an equation for success,” said Mike Lavin, vice president of operations for YMCA of the North, which covers Minnesota and western Wisconsin. (The Rochester Y joined the regional network in 2017.)

Without a facility, Y officials say the organization will continue to remain present in the community through local partnerships. It will also continue to operate its child care center on Valleyhigh Drive.

“The Y is leaving a building, not a community and is committed to Rochester and the surrounding communities,” said Gunderson.

Built in 1964, the Rochester YMCA facility has served as a community hub for fitness, sports, and youth programming for decades.

While there are no immediate plans to replace the facility, Lavin did not rule out the idea; he noted, however, it will take time to evaluate what the Y’s presence in the community should look like going forward.

“How that develops and where those community needs are through the process will determine ultimately if another building-type location with four walls will be needed for us to meet our objectives,” said Lavin.

Events are planned the weekend of January 28-30 to “honor the history and legacy of the Rochester Y facility.” Lavin said it is too soon to say what will come next for the Y site, which is located on the south end of downtown.

He said the Y’s focus at the moment is communicating its next steps with members and the community.

“This is a sad day for a lot of people, including us at the Y.”

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.