INDIANAPOLIS — The YMCA will shut down its facility inside the 125-year-old Athenaeum building at the end of March. However, the foundation behind the historic building believes the gym will not remain closed for long.
Athenaeum Foundation president Craig Mince said they are already working on plans to reopen the gym, but do not have anything solidified just yet.
"We want to get something else in here as quickly as possible," Mince said. "The goal here is not to have the space go dark at all ideally, but if it does, it will be minimal at best."
The YMCA has operated the gym inside of the Athenaeum since 1992. Once it closes on March 28, the closest facility to downtown Indianapolis will be the Irsay Family YMCA.
"It was really about streamlining resources," said Tony Wise, the marketing director for the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis. "It was a very difficult decision, it's not something where we woke up one day and decided to do this. It was a beautiful partnership. We still love those people there in the community."
Some in the community surrounding the Athenaeum are frustrated with the YMCA's decision to leave.
"It's a shame that it's leaving and I plan to use it as much I can over the next month," said Athenaeum YMCA user Timothy Dowers. "I've certainly taken it for granted that it's right here. My office is a walk, maybe two blocks away from here."
Mince does not know whether the foundation or an outside company will run the gym after the YMCA leaves, but said it would be an insult to the building's history if it shut down for good.
"It still acts today as it did when it was opened in 1894," Mince said. "Sound mind and a sound body is the motto that came from the Athenaeum Turnverein that built this building. To have a functioning gym in this building is something that always needs to be here."
