The Diocese of Camden has announced that the Catholic Family Health and Recreation Center (CYO) in Blackwood will close September 1, 2006.
The decision to close the Center was made after considering the facility’s operating losses and the increasingly prohibitive costs of maintaining the facility.The Center, which has struggled with deficits for years, posted losses of $156,000 in 2005, $221,000 in 2006 and was projected to lose another $400,000 in the next fiscal year.
The Center was also projecting that $1 million in capital improvements would be required over the next five years.Andrew Walton, spokesman for the diocese, said that in addition to the difficult financial situation, the diocese considered how the CYO center fits within and furthers the Church’s broader mission.
“Resources are finite and there are pressing pastoral priorities, including the need to form young people more fully in the faith. The Center fulfilled an important function decades ago when fitness and recreation centers were less common. Today, the diocese believes that resources would be better directed to other pastoral priorities, including those which will be identified from the data provided at the parish Speak Up sessions, which the bishop concluded last month.”
CYO staff members were informed of the decision Friday, June 30. The diocesan Office of Human Resources emphasized that the Center’s five full-time and 34 part-time employees will be given first consideration when filling like positions that may be available at the diocese, as well as in parishes, schools and other diocesan entities.The recreation facility opened in January, 1971, replacing the CYO daycamp in Grenloch, which opened in 1959 and which was destroyed by fire in November, 1969. Bishop George Guilfoyle dedicated the center on May 15, 1971.
The Center, which includes an indoor basketball court and swimming pool, has hosted CYO sports, swim lessons, American Red Cross Health and Safety courses, dance and gymnastics, aerobics, karate, tennis, volleyball, swimming and more. In a letter that was mailed to members last week, Fr. Tom Barcellona, executive director and spiritual moderator of the facility, explained that the Center will not be accepting new memberships and, for those memberships that will expire after September 1, the unused portion of the membership will be refunded.Father Barcellona said the decision to close has been difficult on all involved.
“We know that the decision has been hard for not only for our members who have been loyal and supportive of the Center, but especially on our staff who has served the people with such dedication. There is great sadness, but also great pride in all the good work that has been accomplished by the staff and management over these many years.”
The diocese has not made a decision on future plans for the facility, which is situated on about 20 acres at Peter Cheeseman Road in Blackwood.