YMCA loses members after flip-flopping about closure

After announcing it would close down — and later stating it wouldn’t — many members of Gainesville’s YMCA have left, one member said.

The North Central Florida YMCA, located at 5201 NW 34th Blvd., announced in December that it would be closing due to mounting debt.

On Monday, after donors pledged about $940,000, the organization’s CEO, John Bonacci, said it would not close after all.

But for dozens of members, it was too late, longtime member Leslie Galloway said. She estimated about 10 percent — or 500 of the 5,000 members — have left.

“Hopefully we get that membership base that we lost back,” Galloway, 28, said.

Bonacci said there is still a sense of urgency to raise an additional $250,000 to keep Wells Fargo from shutting the YMCA down.

Since the YMCA first announced it would close, a local competitor with a similar senior-citizen program has seen a spike in elderly membership.

Youfit Health Clubs, located at 3045 SW 34th St. has seen a 45-person increase in enrollment for its Silver Sneakers program, which offers a health and workout package for senior citizens, said Bryce Neff, the assistant manager at Youfit.

Neff said he suspects many new SilverSneakers members made the switch from the YMCA.

“I don’t know the exact percentage,” Neff said. “But I do know that a few of them that I personally signed up have come from the Y.”

mvossler@alligator.org

@molly_vossler