INC NEWS - Letter: It makes sense to keep the Lakewood Y open... Group to receive Indy Citizens Award

[John Schelp]

Letter: It makes sense to keep the Lakewood Y open
Herald-Sun, 23 Nov 2007
 
As a board member of the Committee to Save the
Lakewood YMCA (CSLY), a concerned neighbor and former
YMCA member, I am writing to express my concern
regarding the persistent attempts of the Triangle YMCA
Board to portray our chairman, Chuck Clifton, as a
lone detractor focused on bringing harm to the YMCA.
Nothing could be further from the truth. 

CSLY, the surrounding neighborhood associations and
Lakewood YMCA members, together with our spokesman,
Chuck, are united in support of Lakewood and in our
dismay over the heavy-handed approach the Triangle
YMCA board, a group based in Raleigh, has taken in
unilaterally deciding the Lakewood YMCA's future. By
attempting to undermine Chuck's credibility, and by
extension that of CSLY, they also trivialize and
minimize the legitimate concerns of Lakewood members,
neighbors and supporters who number in the thousands. 

The Lakewood Y has been a focal point of our
neighborhood for 50 years. Lakewood offers large
outdoor spaces, racquetball courts, a running track,
gymnastics and soccer fields, none of which exist at
the downtown facility. By comparison, the downtown
facility offers nothing that didn't previously exist
at Lakewood. Lakewood is located in a residential
neighborhood and is walkable or bikeable for literally
thousands of Durham residents in any direction.
Truthfully, the Lakewood facility is more ideally
sited than any comparable facility in the Triangle. My
question is, given this, how could the Lakewood YMCA
not be successful without a concerted effort of
Triangle YMCA board members to shut it down? 

Lawrence C. Trost
Durham

News flash:

Committee to Save the Lakewood Y to receive a 2007
Indy Citizens Award...

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A164373