YMCA closure will be ‘huge loss’ say campaigners after new owners refuse to meet

A local resident has described the pending closure of the Central YMCA Club as a “huge loss”, adding it feels as if it is another London facility disappearing “in the interest of tourists and big businesses rather than the local communities”.

The comments come after the new owners of the building, Criterion Capital, ignored an invitation to discuss the future of the health and social club with stakeholders.

In December the YMCA announced the Great Russell Street site would be closing on 7 February.

Chief Executive Ryan Palmer wrote in a statement that due to pressures such as local demographic changes and rising site maintenance costs, “it has become clear that the cost of operations at the Club are now not being covered by the number of members the Club can sustain.

“Therefore, after much consideration and with the best interests of the charity and our beneficiaries at heart, we have concluded the sale of the 112 Great Russell Street site.”

The site was sold at the end of last year to property company Criterion Capital. In a statement issued in December, Criterion said it would work with “local organisations and stakeholders” and Camden Council to “shape the next chapter of this building”.

But the property developer has since gone back on its word and has ignored calls from YMCA club users to meet with them and discuss its future.

Criterion has been approached for comment by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, The Fitzrovia News, and other media, but has so far remained silent.

The Central YMCA was the world’s first, opening in 1844. It has been at its current Great Russell Street site since 1977. While technically in Camden it is a short distance from the border with Westminster.

Central London’s largest gym and wellbeing centre, its facilities, which include exercise studios, a 25 metre swimming pool and an arts studio, are used by groups such as Soho Parish school as well as individual members.

David Bieda, who has been using the Great Russell Street YMCA since it opened, is a member of the Save the Central YMCA Club committee.

He told the LDRS: “The more I have been involved the more I have realised how extraordinary it is.”

Bieda praised the club’s ranging facilities, which he said he would not be able to replace elsewhere. “It provides for an enormous age range, and an enormous variety of things, not just sports. It’s really a wellbeing centre.”

Bieda said the decision to close had come as a shock, with no consultation prior to the December announcement.

“The main issue is, why didn’t they tell the thousands of users and ask people to come up with solutions to their financial problems?”

Doron Jacobs, 65, is another resident who regularly attends the club. He said he started going around two and a half years ago after it had been recommended by a friend.

“It’s a huge loss really,” he said. “I relatively recently retired and I was looking for something to do with my health and fitness, and a friend who attends suggested I should go to the YMCA.”

Similar to Bieda, Jacobs said the YMCA is more than a gym, likening it to a community centre.

“My overriding feeling is this is just another facility in London being lost in the interest of tourists and big businesses rather than the local communities.”

Fiona Rubens, 55, said her 92-year-old father Basil Rubens has attended the YMCA since 1985. She said the club presented Mr Rubens with essential social opportunities, as well as helping his fitness.

Ms Rubens, who is a former Westminster resident, said: “We are devastated and perplexed as to who would not see this as the most exemplary community space and want to close this down. This is an ecosystem supporting so many groups in the middle of London.

“We talk about increasing tolerance and this place has no borders and brings together every person from any walk of life and opinion, in an organic way. It supports schools, hospitals, and the youth who may have no space in central London to throw a basketball.”

In two deputations made to Camden Council in December and this month the campaign group received the support of the local authority. This included for its call for a six-month pause to the closure to enable discussions to take place with all parties and a way to be found to run the facilities on a long-term basis under a new brand.

A petition to save the premises has also received just over 7,000 signatures at the time of writing, with events including a flash mob outside the building earlier this month organised to further raise the profile of the campaign against the closure.

On the frequently asked questions page on its website, the YMCA clarifies it will continue to run Central YMCA sites at Kings Cross and Moorgate.

Responding to a query about whether it can be saved, the YMCA writes: “Regrettably this is not a feasible scenario. The sale has been completed, and the rising costs, declining utilisation and projected maintenance costs make continued operations untenable.”

Criterion Capital has yet to publicly announce its plans for the YMCA building. It is understood Camden Council has been approached for pre-application advice, though any it provides is done so on a confidential basis.

Criterion also owns the Trocadero by Piccadilly Circus, as well as the Zedwell hotel chain. There is already an underground Zedwell at 112 Great Russell Street.

The Fitzrovia News understands that Criterion has acquired the freehold, from the YMCA, of the whole city block bounded by Great Russell Street, Tottenham Court Road, Bedford Avenue and Adeline Place. However, when Criterion were asked for clarification and further details of the sale, we received no response.

Additional reporting by Linus Rees.

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