Christmas comes early for the YMCA

Gift from Roger Perry and East-West Partners called a win-win for community

No matter how big the Christmas tree was supposed to be at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA, they're going to need a bigger one to cover the gift just presented.

Trouble is, how much paper does it take to wrap a swimming pool and clubhouse complex?

Through a gift from Roger Perry of East-West Partners, the local YMCA has received the Meadowmont community swimming pool and clubhouse, to be called the YMCA at Meadowmont.

Discussions about the transfer of ownership began last summer and became official when representatives from the YMCA, Meadowmont Community Association and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce gathered Dec. 2 to cut the bright red ribbon that encircled this sizable Christmas present at Old Barn Lane.

"This free gift from Roger Perry and East-West Partners gives us an area to serve the community that we've never had before," Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA Executive Director Jerry Whortan said.

It means families won't have to look beyond the YMCA during those hot summer months when kids are out of school and want to get into the water.

"We've got a lot of families with kids," Whortan said. "Now they can continue to utilize their membership and still have a nice outdoor pool experience."

Joe Agusta, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA Board of Directors, pointed out that East-West's gift reflected a win-win.

"This isn't someone giving away a problem," he said. "There's no corrective action needing to take place. Sometimes one agency's trash is another's treasure, and that is not the case here. This gift to the YMCA was both a treasure given, and a treasure received."

"It was something that came to us completely unexpectedly, and we couldn't be happier. We certainly believe in Santa Claus.

"This whole thing started when Roger Perry of East-West Partners said, 'How would the YMCA like a swimming pool?' East-West Partners built Meadowmont and still had the pool and a small area of land around it," Whortan explained. "East-West Management Company was managing the pool area for them and doing a great job.

"Roger Perry just wanted out of the swimming pool business in that area, but he wanted to make sure the pool was going to be well-kept, well-used, and is open to the community as it had been."

New acquisition 'a good fit'

The main branch of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA at 980 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. currently boasts a 25-yard indoor heated pool, as well as a full gymnasium with an elevated running-walking track, whirlpool, sauna and steam rooms, racquetball-handball courts, locker rooms and family changing areas, aerobics and yoga classes, and a full fitness center with a full range of cardiovascular equipment, personal training, massage and child care.

Initiatives include youth sports programs, daycare and aftercare, and summer camps, including a seasonal facility at Camp Clearwater south of Chapel Hill.

Child daycare is offered off site at the Carol Woods Community. The YMCA Chatham branch in Pittsboro offers a fitness center, child care and aftercare, and youth sports programs.

YMCA at Meadowmont, on the east side of Chapel Hill, fits right in, and Whortan envisions very few changes.

"We just want to continue to run a successful recreation program, and a great swim lesson program," he said. "We want to try to continue to run the swim team there in the summertime, we want day camps, we want fitness, and we want yoga."

The new facility includes a regulation-sized lap pool, a separate recreational pool with a 98-foot water slide, a water raindrop, and shoreline entry. The pool deck includes a band shell for entertaining. A multi-function clubhouse includes a snack bar and kitchen, and gathering and conference rooms.