Longmont seniors pack meeting as YMCA discontinues some services

The Ascent at Hover Crossing community room was packed over the weekend as Longmont’s senior citizens showed up to voice their concerns over the local YMCA’s announcement that it plans to end aquatics, fitness and recreation services at the end of the month.
While the event was technically a standard coffee with council event, in which two city council members host an informal Q&A with community members, it was almost entirely dedicated to concerns over the Y.
The gathering came less than two weeks after YMCA of Northern Colorado announced it would end aquatics, fitness and recreation services at its Longmont location on Feb. 28, citing ongoing financial struggles and a hoped-for transition to the city.
In a late-night email to members on Feb. 9, YMCA President and CEO Chris Coker wrote that the Longmont Y has “struggled financially for years,” and that government cuts over the last year have affected the regional YMCA by $5 million. He said the organization had been working with the city since October on a potential partnership and that “our goal is that the city will reopen the facility as a recreation center soon after.” He added that any transition would need City Council ratification and that “nothing is final until that time.”
The following day, city spokesperson Rogelio Mares issued a statement saying “there is no timeline for such a decision,” and that no agreement has been reached and no commitments have been made. Any arrangement, Mares wrote, would require careful evaluation of costs, operations and community needs, along with public input and council approval.
On Saturday, that disconnect in messaging was front and center.
“The word that keeps coming to mind for me is heartbreaking,” Council member Jake Marsing said. “This whole situation is heartbreaking.”
Marsing added that it was personal for him, too. “I grew up in daycare and summer camps at that Y. I learned to swim in that pool. I broke my foot when I was six being chased on the playground there. That building is part of my life story. I love that place.”
Marsing said the city learned of the closure in the same email that many residents received.
Coker’s email said the Y would continue to operate licensed child care, including preschool, summer camp and before- and after-school care. He later said “the kids’ stuff will stay deep into the future.”
The Feb. 28 shutdown of membership functions, however, leaves many seniors scrambling. Full-pay memberships will be automatically canceled at the end of the month, Coker wrote. SilverSneakers and other insurance-based memberships can be used at Y locations in Lafayette, Johnstown and Boulder.
Many in Saturday’s crowd said traveling out of town is not a viable option.
“I’ve been a member of the Y since the early 80’s. I’m desperate to keep the Y. I’m suspicious of someone who makes an obscene amount of money who lets one of the entities under his charge fall by the wayside,” one resident said during the meeting, to rounds of applause from other attendees. “And his wife is the marketing manager. And she can’t seem to market to people to keep the Y open, which also disturbs me.”
According to public tax filings from 2024, Chris Coker received $284,366 in base compensation and $53,260 in other compensation, which typically includes benefits and retirement contributions.
Susan Coker, who is married to Chris Coker, is the Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Program Development at the YMCA of Northern Colorado, according to their employee directory. According to the same tax filings, she received $141,766 in base compensation and $19,582 in other compensation.
Olivia Coker, who is listed as the daughter of Chris and Susan Coker, and also a YMCA employee, received $58,582 in compensation in 2024.
According to its 2024 IRS Form 990, the most recent publicly available financial report, the YMCA reported $21.86 million in revenue and $23.35 million in expenses, a roughly $1.49 million deficit. Salaries and benefits totaled $13.1 million. At year’s end, it listed $32.55 million in assets, $19.78 million in liabilities and $12.77 million in net assets.
In a phone call on Monday afternoon, responding to criticism about his salary and his wife’s role as chief marketing officer, Coker said his compensation is set using nonprofit salary benchmarks and falls at the midpoint of the recommended range. “My salary is not obscene,” he said.
He added that membership revenue at the Longmont location “barely covers the salaries, let alone the operating costs.” With about 300 full-pay members and many others covered through insurance programs that reimburse the Y between $3 and $4 per visit, “it probably doesn’t even cover the instructor’s salary,” he said. “It looks full … but it’s all third-party pay. And that’s the problem at that Y; it’s overly heavy on third-party pay and not on full pay.”
Coker disputed the suggestion that city leaders were blindsided by the Feb. 9 announcement, saying the YMCA had been in discussions with city staff for months.
Coker said he understands seniors’ frustration, particularly SilverSneakers members who may not be able to travel to other YMCA locations in Boulder, Lafayette or Johnstown. “To close a Y is a horrible. It’s horrible,” he said. He noted that other Y associations across Colorado have also closed facilities in recent years due to funding changes.
While SilverSneakers memberships can be used at other gyms and recreation centers, he acknowledged the loss goes beyond access to equipment. “The sad part of this is they’re going to miss their friends,” he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Sean McCoy questioned the organization’s approach.
“I think about how other nonprofit organizations go about handling repairs, and they have capital improvement drives. They get grants. They do a variety of things,” McCoy said. “You would think that he would have gone down those paths.”
He said the council must weigh residents’ emotions against fiscal responsibility.
“I think that’s why people elected me and my other fellow council members; to make those hard decisions,” McCoy said. “I’m willing to do my best to make sure that your voices are heard, but also that we keep that financial stability that you expect us to.”
City Manager Harold Dominguez said the YMCA has asked the city to consider taking over the building. If that were to happen, the city would have to buy the property and then repair it before reopening it as a city-run recreation center.
He said the city estimates it would cost about $5 million upfront just to make the building safe and bring it up to city standards. Total repair costs could reach about $7 million. After that, the city would still need to spend about $400,000 per year on maintenance.
He said building a brand-new recreation center instead would likely cost between $35 million and $40 million, with annual operating costs of $2 million to $2.5 million.
Dominguez stressed that the city has not agreed to buy the building. He added that one of the biggest sticking points is the price.
He said the YMCA can choose to sell the building as real estate on the open market, which would likely bring a higher price. But if the city buys it, the city would immediately have to spend millions of dollars fixing the roof and other major systems.
“That has to factor into the price,” Dominguez said. He suggested that if the YMCA is losing money at the Longmont location, it could choose to transfer the building at a reduced cost.
“If I owned a business and I was losing $3 million a year, I would probably go to someone and say, I will give it to you,” Dominguez said. “At the end of the day, you’re saving $3 million a year.”
The building has also received Boulder County Worthy Cause funding, which requires it to continue being used for recreation or similar purposes unless the county is repaid. Dominguez said that restriction limits what can be done with the property and would also factor into negotiations.
Carly Silberman, who works for Growing Gardens, said the Y’s impact extends beyond recreation. The nonprofit has a partnership with the Y and has farmed land at the site for more than a decade. According to Silberman, the location has been identified as an area that lacks access to fresh food, and their nonprofit helps to bridge the gap.
“We donate over 11,000 pounds of produce each year,” Silberman said of the nonprofit’s farm on the property. She said their nonprofit also works with the OUR Center to donate food to the homeless population. They also work with Timberline, a school within walking distance of the property.
“This is their only field trip they take in a year. They do not have a budget for field trips, and so we service each grade two field trips a year. Those students walk over to the farm and have that experience learning about where their food comes from,” she said.
While it’s unclear what will happen to the Growing Garden site farm once the Y closes, McCoy said, “We don’t want that to go away either. As responsible leaders, we want to make sure that we get the best deal for the community at large.”
Coker has said the closure is unrelated to a forensic audit commissioned by the town of Johnstown that identified financial reporting errors. He has also attributed part of the strain to federal child-care funding changes and said a recent court order restoring some funds “levels the funding, but it doesn’t let any new kids in.”
Longtime Longmont resident Ruth Rosenblum suggested that the seniors band together and have a meeting with Chris Coker and the rest of the YMCA board. The problem, she said, is that no one from the Y is getting back to them.
​On Monday, Coker said he wouldn’t be open to the idea of a meeting with board members and community members. “I don’t see how a meeting would make any difference,” he said.
As the Saturday meeting wrapped up, Marsing acknowledged the frustration in the room.
“This sucks,” he said. “This whole thing is just a heartbreaking situation for the community.”
He said any updates would come through formal city communications and encouraged residents to continue making their voices heard.
“We hear you,” Marsing said. “We care deeply about this. The only reason we’re even looking at trying to find $5, $7 million on this thing is because we know it matters to the community.”