Photo courtesy of Tom Bolin Lifeguard training was one of the activities that took place at the Marshall Area YMCA last week. YMCA leaders said this week that they are looking at the financial viability of the Marshall facility, which is facing both needed updates and a drop in memberships. On Tuesday, Marshall City Council members asked city staff to bring them proposals on studying partnerships between the city and the YMCA

MARSHALL — Both the city of Marshall and the Marshall Area YMCA have been thinking over what they will need to do to meet the community’s recreation needs in the future.

For the Y, another key question will be how to stay afloat financially, YMCA board members said Tuesday.

At a Marshall City Council meeting, the YMCA asked council members to consider working together to study possible partnerships with the city.

“One of the big reasons for us to look at this partnership and collaboration is we have a facility that our current operations are not allowing us to maintain,” said Eric Eben, treasurer of the Marshall Area YMCA board.

Marshall city staff and council members said the study could also yield more information on how Marshall might be able to create some kind of indoor recreational facility.

“The timing is right to do some joint planning,” said Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes.

After discussion, council members voted to have city staff bring back proposals for feasibility studies on both a potential partnership with the YMCA, and on a possible future recreational facility.

Eben told council members the Y was facing financial concerns since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Memberships dropped significantly in 2020, he said.

“I think we hit as low as 1,400 member units, when we were at a high of 2,200 before COVID hit,” Eben said.

Setting aside PPP funding and other government grants and facility donations, the YMCA lost over $191,000 in operating revenue in 2020, he said. Membership revenue started to come back in 2021.

“But even at the end of that year, we lost almost $160,000,” he said.

“And the government grants were not nearly as plentiful in 2021 to help sustain operations.”

Eben said the YMCA also had to take on some debt to replace a rooftop air handling system needed for the pool facility to operate.

In addition to looking at a possible partnership with the YMCA, the feasibility studies could also help Marshall explore the idea of building an indoor recreation facility, said Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson.

The city had intended to have its request to extend Marshall’s local option sales tax fund both a new Aquatic Center and an indoor recreation facility. However, the indoor facility has been removed from the request.

“The sponsoring legislator felt that to really move that forward it would be better to just focus on the aquatic center,” Hanson said. “Legislatively it’s not included in the proposal, but we still have this resolution and desire by the council to look at an indoor recreational facility.”

“That’s one reason to really look at acquiring additional information. I think if we had that in hand . . .we might have had more traction on including that in our legislation,” she said.

Hanson said the study process could also help Marshall create a long-term master plan for city parks and recreation.

Materials in the city council’s agenda packet Tuesday said there are other Minnesota cities that have partnered with YMCAs on community facilities. The cities of Worthington, St. Cloud and Mankato each partner with their area YMCAs for management of aquatic and recreational facilities.

Council members discussed both positives of working with the Y, and possible difficulties. Council member Russ Labat said he had heard there was still some “animosity” in the community over how the YMCA was built nearly 20 years ago.

“Marshall sold it as a community center and it turned into a Y,” Labat said. “I think that the community center aspect, in people’s eyes, is a lot different than the Y.”

“The YMCA is a community-focused organization,” Eben said. “Whether we go into it without the branding of the YMCA or we have the branding of the YMCA, I don’t see a difference between the two.”

Hanson said the YMCA would be taking on some risk in supporting the proposed feasibility studies.

“The study could recommend a move away from the YMCA in terms of operation,” she said. “At the same time, you’re still supporting looking into this for the mere fact of the future viability of the facility.”

“I think that looking into the collaborative effort is a good thing,” said council member Steven Meister.

Meister said the YMCA was an important part of meeting Marshall’s community health needs.

“I think going forward, I’m all for a study to see how it works,” he said.