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Palo Alto: Meeting requested with Silicon Valley YMCA Board of Directors [Palo Alto Daily News, Calif. :: ](Palo Alto Daily News (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 24--Members of the Page Mill YMCA in Palo Alto are asking the YMCA of Silicon Valley's Board of Directors to hold a special meeting to discuss the planned closure of the beloved facility. "We would like you to extend the lease for a shorter period time with the landlord and reconsider your decision to close down the Page Mill (YMCA)," a group calling itself Save the Page Mill YMCA wrote in a letter dated July 21. The YMCA of Silicon Valley, which oversees 10 branches, announced in June that the Page Mill YMCA would close on Oct. 1. The news caught many of the branch's 2,300 members by surprise. In a recent interview with The Daily News, Chief Operating Officer Elizabeth Jordan said the board's decision was financially motivated. The 35-year-old branch, which is located in the basement of Building B at 755 Page Mill Road, is in need of repairs totaling roughly $3 million. The branch is also experiencing a decline in membership as well as increased competition from other health clubs, including Equinox Fitness and the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center. "We are concerned that we could put that kind of money into a facility that is on a relatively short-term lease and not be able to recoup any of it if we weren't able to attract new members," Jordan said. Save the Page Mill YMCA noted in its letter that members did not have a chance to weigh in before the board made its decision. "We are requesting the opportunity to present you with our data, ideas about increasing membership, and fundraising plans for paying for the needed improvements," the group wrote, adding that plans have also been drawn up to supplement the branch's Parkinson's disease and cancer survivor programs. "As you know we have a tremendous talent pool of members at the Page Mill Y who are willing and ready to help." Last week, YMCA of Silicon Valley officials held a two-hour meeting with Page Mill YMCA members at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Palo Alto to discuss the closure. Although several members invited The Daily News to attend, the media was barred from the meeting. Jordan said she was concerned the presence of reporters might inhibit discussion. Between 100 and 150 members attended and several said they would support doubling their dues to pay for the repairs, Jordan said afterward. "It's phenomenal that people would consider raising that kind of money," she said. "And to have a community feel the strength that it does to say, 'I'd be willing to fundraise for that,' it's admirable and we would never take that kind of initiative for granted." The repairs are not optional and would need to be made if the lease is renewed for another 10 years, Jordan said. Jordan said she planned to present feedback from the meeting to the YMCA of Silicon Valley Board of Directors, which is on summer break and isn't scheduled to meet again until September. But the special session requested by Save the Page Mill YMCA is still possible, she said. The group, meanwhile, is planning to hold a meeting of its own from 5:30 to 7:30 Thursday in Room H at the Cubberley Community Center, located at 4000 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. Email Jason Green at [email protected]; follow him at twitter.com/jgreendailynews. ___ (c)2014 the Palo Alto Daily News (Menlo Park, Calif.) Visit the Palo Alto Daily News (Menlo Park, Calif.) at www.paloaltodailynews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |