Wow. Here's a fascinating nugget of information unearthed by some intrepid researcher at the Piedmont Family YMCA, as told in a Letter to the Editor by YMCA President Kurt Krueger in today's Daily Progress (emphasis mine):
I am writing in response to the Sept. 20 Daily Progress article "What did McIntire really want?"
It seems that a small but vocal minority opposing the building of the YMCA in McIntire Park have spent a lot of time and energy attempting to leverage language contained in a deed for a small part of the park (and not even the part on which the Y will be built) to argue that McIntire would not want the Y built in the park. Perhaps a truer indication of Mr. McIntire's desire can be gleaned from the fact that he was a member of the YMCA Board of Directors in the 1920s. He is quoted in the Nov. 26, 1923, board minutes as follows:
"Mr. Paul G. McIntire spoke earnestly to the effect that to not support a YMCA would be a disgrace to Charlottesville. He further stated that Charlottesville could raise money for anything it wanted, and that the failure of Charlottesville to maintain a YMCA would go far and wide, and that a YMCA was a necessity for a city of this size."
Building a Y in McIntire Park would fulfill the dream and vision Mr. McIntire had for Charlottesville. We look forward to realizing this vision and providing all members of our community, regardless of age or economic status, with the kinds of facilities and programs offered by the 2,700-plus YMCAs in the U.S.
Kurt J. Krueger
Albemarle County
Monday, October 5, 2009
Guess Who Said It? "To not support a YMCA would be a disgrace to Charlottesville."
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1 comment:
Must admit, when returning to Charlottesville after a 30 year absence, spent living in communities all across the United States with YMCA buildings in most of them, providing impactful service to their communities....I was amazed there was still no physical YMCA building serving the city of Charlottesville.
While I do understand folks being concerned, and certainly support parks and green spaces in our community as well, I don't think one will harm the other....I wish folks would go visit some of those other Y's and see the numerous beneficial impacts on the health and welfare of the communities, and the negligible impacts on their physical locations.
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