The YWCA Minneapolis is closing its longtime Uptown and downtown fitness centers and pools, moving away from health and fitness to focus more on child care, racial equity and youth programs.
YWCA officials announced Thursday that two of its three fitness centers will close Nov. 1 and be sold, and 85 employees — about a quarter of its workforce — will be laid off.
The YWCA Midtown, on E. Lake Street near Hiawatha Avenue, will continue to operate a pool and fitness center; officials said they will be “reimagining” it as a community hub.
The YWCA shut down its Otters and Masters swim teams Tuesday, leaving more than 300 adult and youth swimmers scrambling to find new clubs.
The restructuring comes as the nonprofit grapples with membership declines, staffing shortages and rising expenses, all of which have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Like a lot of nonprofits, we don’t have the luxury to be all things to all people,” said CEO Shelley Carthen Watson, who has led the YWCA Minneapolis since 2021. “Our history is to go where we’re needed and where we make the most impact.”
The changes are part of a 10-year strategic plan that the YWCA Minneapolis put together over the last six months, she said. It has one of the widest range of programs of any YWCA chapter in the country, she added, and needed to pare down its programming.
“It made sense for us to double down and put our efforts into early childhood, into girls and youth [programs] and into racial justice and public policy,” Carthen Watson said. “Now we realize where the need is, where our sweet spot is and where we want to focus our time, attention, our resources.”
She said that the health and fitness business “never really rebounded” after the pandemic, and that the YWCA had to decide whether to stay in it.
“Even prior to the pandemic, for us, it wasn’t making a lot of money,” she said. “A lot of other YWCAs have pivoted away from what we call the ‘swim and gym’ model.”
The YWCA Minneapolis will likely make millions of dollars on the sale of its two buildings, both of which have operated for decades in high-profile locations in the city.
The 80,000 square-foot YWCA Uptown, on Hennepin Avenue near W. Lake Street, opened in 1987. The 120,000-square-foot YWCA Downtown on the Nicollet Mall, which also