The potential partnership that would have combined the Senior Community Center of Owensboro-Daviess County and the YMCA into one building is not moving forward. The Senior Center’s Board of Directors voted 6-4 on Monday to cease all further plans in the collaboration, after more than a year of discussions regarding the joint venture.
Becky Barnhart, executive director of the center, said some of the board members believed the plan was a great option but that the majority had some concerns.
The vote count was as follows: Ed Higdon, Joe Mason, John Burlew, Tina Wright, Brenda Nesmith and Paula Moore Reyborn against the collaboration, and Bill Cooper, Kirk Kirkpatrick, Jim Tony Fulkerson and Representative DJ Johnson for the collaboration.
She said one of the main issues the board had was the amount of space the facility would dedicate to the Center. The current Senior Center facility is 22,000 square feet at 1650 West Second Street.
The proposed project would’ve united the two organizations by renovating the YMCA’s location on Princeton Parkway — including adding 11,000 square feet dedicated to the Senior Center plus another 2,400 square feet of shared space.
“A lot of the issues that were brought up were about if we would have enough space,” Barnhart said.
Barnhart said that over the last year, the center had grown their membership more than 40%, with about 130 seniors coming in daily, so having adequate space was important to the board.
The Board also felt the potential cost, as determined by a feasibility study, was too high, according to Barnhart. She said the YMCA and Senior Center would have to collectively raise $4.5 million to $7 million to be able to fund the project — in addition to the $5 million the City and County governments planned to put toward the project.
“We were looking at the high end that would have allowed for the locker rooms at the YMCA to be renovated and their wellness center upgraded with a walking track. So there were a lot of factors involved in what it could’ve looked like,” Barnhart said.
City Manager Nate Pagan said the $3 million allocation from the City was earmarked specifically for the partnership between the two entities. He said the City would not allocate that funding if the organizations do not move forward with the plan.
“The money was really conditional upon the partnership and that had been made clear to both organizations, I believe, in writing and verbally on various occasions,” Pagan said.
Daviess County Judge-Executive Charlie Castlen said that the $2 million from the Fiscal Court is budgeted to be given to the Senior Center, but the Fiscal Court would still have to vote before actually giving the money to the organization.
“If they have another plan, it will need to be agreed upon by the commissioners and myself,” Castlen said.
At this time it is unclear what the future now holds for the Senior Center regarding a new or renovated facility.
