YMCA, Rock Climbing Wall To Close
Facilities' Workers Say 500 Members Not Enough To Stay Open
POSTED: Tuesday, March 9, 2010
UPDATED: 7:42 pm EST March 9, 2010
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The South Metro YMCA is closing its doors within the next several weeks.The Y said it can't afford to keep the Phillips Highway facility open because it just doesn't have enough members.One of its biggest draws is its huge rock climbing wall.Wade and Cabrina Andree traveled 45 minutes from Fernandina Beach to climb at the facility Tuesday morning.Wade said he's been climbing for five years. Now, with the wall closing, he said he'll have to go to the rock climbing wall facility outside of Orlando or in Gainesville to get his workout."(It's) the challenge of pushing yourself to do bigger and better things, the physical challenge, the mental challenge," Wade said."I'm kind of sad that they're closing the gym because I just picked up this hobby," Cabrina said. "I come like every chance I get."The rock climbing wall at the YMCA caters to children as young as 11.Nikos Westmoreland said membership has dropped to just 500, which he added isn't enough to stay open. He said the tough economy has people cutting back on spending money on gym memberships."We've found ourselves in a tough position where we're looking at having to sign another five-year lease, and that doesn't seem like the right thing for us to do at this point," Westmoreland said.Cabrina said the news will mean a big lifestyle change for her."I'm not going to work out," Cabrina said while laughing. "I could try, but I'm not going to. This is as close as it comes for me."The South Metro YMCA will close when its lease expires on April 14. The rock wall gym will remain open until the end of July.There are two other YMCA facilities nearby -- the Brooks YMCA off Butler Boulevard and the Yates YMCA in Riverside.
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Rock Climbers Must Go ElsewhereCopyright 2010 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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