The YMCA of Greater Kansas City announced the long-standing Paul Henson Family YMCA in Prairie Village will close permanently next month.
The Y made the announcement Thursday morning, saying the nearly 60-year-old facility at 79th and Delmar streets will have its last day of operations on Friday, Dec. 20.
The announcement comes roughly a month after the Prairie Village City Council killed a proposal to replace the aging Paul Henson facility by partnering with the Y on a new city-owned facility that would have been operated by the Y and co-located next to a new Corinth Library branch.
The idea for a new community center and library branch had been discussed in some form for years in Prairie Village. (Read more here about what Johnson County Library’s plans are for the future of the current Corinth branch now that the deal is off.)
Now, the Y plans to sell the Paul Henson property in the near future.
The facility is unsustainable ‘with the resources available’
- In the Thursday morning announcement, the Y said residents who are currently members of the Paul Henson Y can use other facilities and will soon receive information about what’s next for their membership.
- The Y pointed to the financial instability of the current facility — which has been operating at a $200,000 annual deficit for years — as the reason for the closure.
- Still, the Y said it ultimately came to the conclusion to shutter the Paul Henson facility following the city council’s Oct. 21 decision to end conversations about a new community center, which would have been operated by the Y, “despite widespread support for the project” in two separate resident surveys.
- “The Y determined it is no longer feasible to sustain the facility with the resources,” YMCA staff added in the statement.
‘A sad ending’
- Councilmember Ian Graves was one of two dissenting votes for last month’s council decision, signaling his support for moving the community center idea to a public vote.
- Graves told the Post on Thursday that he regrets that the community center never made it to the ballot — something the city council intended to do if the governing body itself moved the project forward.
- He said he hopes that the community that has found a longtime gathering space in the Paul Henson facility can find another option.
- “It’s a sad ending and a missed opportunity,” Graves told the Post. “The YMCA has been an institution here for generations both at that facility and in our after-school programs.”
- City Administrator Wes Jordan told the Post in a Thursday statement that the city is glad for the Y’s continued work with the school district offering after-school programs, and acknowledged the facility has been “a fixture in our community for decades.”
- “We have appreciated their partnership over the years as well as the opportunities for wellness and community building that the Y has provided for Prairie Village residents,” Jordan said.
The Y plans to sell the property
- Paula Oxler, the Y’s vice president of marketing and communications, told the Post that the Paul Henson “property will go up for sale soon.”
- In the meantime, the Y plans to continue to offer its before- and after-school programs and youth adaptive sports in Prairie Village, according to its Thursday morning announcement.
- “Looking toward the future, we will seek opportunities to bring additional YMCA services and potentially a facility to Johnson County, Kansas,” the announcement reads.
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