YMCA to run city rec center

Erin Neff

Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999 | 11:40 a.m.

A once-controversial plan allowing the YMCA to run a city recreation center was approved Wednesday by the Las Vegas City Council without any of the original concerns.

Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said the city needed a nonprofit organization to run the Northwest Family Resource Center at Gowan Avenue and Durango Drive due to escalating staff costs associated with the opening of two new city centers.

The other center, near Palo Verde High School, will be staffed by the city.

Under terms of the five-year agreement, the YMCA will run the 40,000-square-foot facility for 96 hours a week. A portion of the facility will be available for city use.

The city will receive 1 percent of the annual gross receipts at the center beginning in the second year of the contract.

Houchens said the YMCA was the only responsible bidder to the city's request and offered comparable rates to those charged by the city's Leisure Services division at other centers.

When the proposal was first discussed earlier this year, the city staff was hesitant to turn over a city-funded project to a nonprofit agency. Church and state separation issues were also raised due to the YMCA's Christian affiliation.

The proposal was approved 3-0, with Councilmen Larry Brown and Michael McDonald abstaining because they serve on the Northwest YMCA board of directors.

A YMCA representative said 90 percent of the programs will carry the same charges. Only adult fitness classes will be cheaper for YMCA members, he said.