Durham County to buy Lakewood Y

DURHAM — Durham county officials announced plans Monday to buy the Lakewood YMCA and spend $8 million to renovate it.

The county will then transfer the project to the Durham Public Schools, which will open a Montessori middle school on part of the site for the 2010 school year. The YMCA will lease about 18,000 square feet at the location to continue operating afterschool and summer camps.

The announcement relieved ongoing worry of Lakewood-area residents, who have campaigned to keep the Y at 2119 Chapel Hill Road open since a year ago, when rumors surfaced that the regional YMCA organization planned to close the aging facility.

The buildings and property — about 57,350 square feet on 7.4 acres — need extensive renovations and the operation continues to lose money, to the tune of about $400,000 a year.

But residents see the center as a cornerstone of the Lakewood area, a section of Durham just west of downtown.

“When a big community center closes, it’s a disaster for the community,” said Chuck Clifton, chairman of the Committee to Save the Lakewood YMCA.

Both Clifton’s group, which has more than 100 members, and students at nearby Lakewood Elementary School have come together to come up with a solution.

The YMCA has been in the community almost 40 years. Currently, 120 students from nearby schools rely on the center for afterschool programs, and more than 300 children attend summer camps there, said Bryan Huffman, executive director of the YMCA’s Durham branches.