Rogers YMCA closes suddenly; members say services will be missed

ROGERS -- The Northwest Arkansas Mercy Family YMCA suddenly closed its doors this week about a month after the facility's managers said it would soon be under new management.

The 5-year-old YMCA branch, which was a partnership between the Tri-State Family YMCA and Mercy Northwest Arkansas, told members Wednesday would be its last. A statement to members said the partner organizations learned of the decision by the building's owner Tuesday and weren't part of the decision-making process.

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For more information about the YMCA and to find the nearest location, go to www.ymca.net.

In early November the YMCA and Mercy announced they were ending the partnership. They wouldn't say why, but told members they expected the facility would stay open under new management and didn't anticipate "immediate" changes in programs.

The move means one less place for after-school programs, sports and other fitness services in west Rogers. The location's main room Wednesday night was full of shouts and the squeaking of basketball shoes as two teams played on the court. Kids ran around the track above the court and played in the brightly painted after-school area.

Several adults streamed in to use the workout equipment and ask questions about the closing, including Alexis Cleavenger, who was a member about as long as the facility was open and would typically go five or six times a week.

"My jaw dropped at work today," she said of the moment she found out about the closing. The location was an unintimidating place to exercise, had pleasant employees and was at a good location between home and work at a podiatrist office in Bentonville, she added. "It makes me really sad."

Benton County property records list Jeannie Carpenter as the owner of the building and land, which together have an appraised value of $3.3 million. No contact information for Carpenter was immediately available Friday; she isn't listed in the 2017 Names and Numbers phone book for Northwest Arkansas.

The YMCA's website and phone number were down or disconnected. Butch Christy, CEO of the Tri-State group, was off Friday, according to a staff member at the group's location in Grove, Okla.

The closing is a big hit to families needing affordable and consistent after-school care, said LaDonna Humphrey, who with her husband has three children, and is in the process of adopting three others and is fostering a seventh. The YMCA was one of the few places that would take the children from their charter school at the end of the day and give them the attention they need, she said.

"The director there worked one-on-one with my kindergartner to make sure she felt important and safe," Humphrey said. "We're shocked, and it's hard to know that they're closing because there's nothing else open in our district where our kids will fit."

The lack of after-school care is a broader issue Northwest Arkansas needs to tackle, Humphrey added. She's planning a community meeting in two weeks at the Arkansas Arts Academy High School to bring parents and others together and discuss the problem.

"As a community we have to stand up together, from teachers to parents to donors, and say this is what we can do," Humphrey said. She's also going to try to open her own after-school program.

NW News on 12/03/2016

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