About five months after financial struggles forced the YMCA of Northern Colorado to end aquatics, fitness and recreation services at its Longmont location, the City of Longmont is planning to buy the 950 Lashley St. facility and turn it into a public recreation center.
The agreement was approved by Longmont City Council at a July 14 meeting. The city will pay $4.5 million for the Ed and Ruth Lehman YMCA property.
The acquisition “represent[s] an important opportunity for the City to expand recreation services for the Longmont community,” Longmont said in a news release. “The City intends to evaluate and develop the YMCA facility as a second recreation center, helping meet the growing demand for indoor recreation, wellness, fitness, aquatics, and community programming.”
Local YMCA officials said in February — when nearly all of the facilities’ non-childcare programs were initially cut — that they expected the city to step in and take over operations at the Lashley Street center, but city leaders took a more cautious approach to a potential partnership.
“The Longmont Y has struggled financially for years,” YMCA of Northern Colorado Chris Coker wrote in a February email to members. “Nonprofit funding support has become more difficult to obtain over the last year, during which government cuts have affected the YMCA of Northern Colorado by $5 million. So, this partnership would be a win for the Y and for the City of Longmont.”
Given that the Longmont YMCA’s overall annual budget is $22 million,” Coker said in February, “that’s huge. We needed to do something to balance the books over here.”
He cited funding cuts that date back two years, coupled with reductions handed down last year from President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Coker said in February that the decision to cut programming was unrelated to a forensic audit commissioned by the Johnstown Town Council after it questioned the reliability of the YMCA of Northern Colorado’s financial reporting. The auditing firm Eide Bailly LLP found errors and discrepancies that the council said could result in repayment to the town. In December, town leaders decided to give the YMCA a chance to correct financial recording and reporting errors, and in late June the officials opted to extend YMCA’s contract to operate Johnstown’s rec center.
With the approval, the city “anticipates that the planning, design, evaluation, and development of the YMCA property into a second recreation center will take a year or longer to complete,” the release said.
In the meantime, the hope is to maintain childcare services at the facility.
“The City recognizes the importance of the current childcare services provided at the YMCA facility,” the release said. “If the acquisition is approved, the City will work with the YMCA of Northern Colorado to explore options to continue childcare services during property evaluation, development and beyond. Maintaining childcare access during and after the transition is an important consideration for both organizations.”
