Township To Take Over YMCA Operations at WCC

The Woodbridge Community Center is under new management.

Sort of.

A transition is currently underway that will see the township taking over operations previously run by the YMCA. This includes the fitness center, pool, preschool and school programs.

On September 9, Mayor John McCormac and Scott A. Lewis, President and CEO of the YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge and South Amboy sent a joint letter to club members to explain the transition.

"On October 31, 2013, the management agreement between the YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge and South Amboy (MEWSA) and the Township of Woodbridge that supports YMCA operations at the Woodbridge Community Center (WCC) will expire," the letter said. "As of November 1, 2013, the Community Center will operate as the Woodbridge Community Center, managed by Woodbridge Township."

McCormac called the change "an amicable separation."

According to McCormac, local YMCA officials discovered a bylaw that prohibits them from running their programs at properties that they do not own.

As the YMCA has a contract to operate at the facility and not ownership of the land, they will no longer be in operation at the center. Instead, the township will now run the entire facility, McCormac said.

This is not the first time the township has brought recreation programs in-house.

In 1997, when the township began the project of building the Woodbridge Community Center, the YMCA won a contract to run the center's fitness and preschool programs, while another contract was awarded to a separate company to build two ice skating rinks, indoor batting cages and an arcade.

The company who would be overseeing those facilities began construction and subsequently went bankrupt, McCormac said.

The township took control of the project and decided to make it into a full community center with what's now known as The Arenas at Woodbridge, which includes the roller rink, ice skating rink and cafe, as well as an outdoor mini-golf course.

After using a management company to run The Arenas, the township decided to bring the facility in-house and run it themselves, McCormac said. The YMCA maintained its contract throughout this process.

The majority of the YMCA staff has been kept and will now work for the township. Pretty much all were offered jobs, and nearly all accepted, McCormac said.

Vito Cimilluca, Director of Recreation for the township, said this new arrangement will be beneficial to families, with no services lost in the transition.

Discounts on the ice and roller rinks and mini-golf are in the works for members, with the intent to make the center "a real destination for families," he said.

The pool and school programs were taken over by the township at the beginning of September, township spokesman John Hagerty said. All other operations previously run by the YMCA will be transferred over to township management by November 1.

"While we continue the process of transferring YMCA operations, programs, and staff, we want to assure members and guests that the terms, conditions and amenities of membership will not change with the WCC membership - your WCC membership will include the very same programs and services that were available to you through the YMCA," McCormac and Lewis's letter said.

Membership director Kelly Reidy said members do not have to be apprehensive about the change, because little will change. The same services will still be offered, and the staff they know will still be there.

It will continue as a community center, sports arena, recreation spot, day care facility, birthday party location and meeting spot.

"We do an awful lot in this facility," McCormac said.

For more information on the Woodbridge Community Center, visit www.njwcc.com.