Whether one is a member or not, we think most city residents would agree that the Jamestown YMCA serves an important function for many city residents – particularly youth.

So it’s concerning to see that a second project to replace the YMCA’s historic Fourth Street headquarters is falling prey to the same problem the first proposed new YMCA building fell victim to – lack of capital investment.

We thought it was a heavy lift for both the YMCA and Jamestown Community College to be asking for community support for two big ticket building projects located a stone’s throw away from each other a few years ago. Remember, at the time JCC wanted to undertake a massive project at Russell E. Diethrick Stadium and the surrounding area to improve the college’s athletic facilities while the YMCA was looking at a $30 million new home on Harrison Street. One of the projects would have been a heavy lift. Trying to do them both at the same time was simply too much.

So it makes sense to us that the project was combined. Improvements to the JCC Physical Education Complex can take care of some of the college’s issues while also allowing the YMCA to move into a new building. Combining the projects saves millions of dollars that can be used on other community needs while solving needs for both JCC and the YMCA. .

But while the JCC portion is largely funded, the YMCA is once again struggling to get funding commitments for its share of the $44 million project. Local foundations have committed about $3 million, but a federal grant doesn’t look like it’s going to happen and other sources of federal funding are uncertain. The bulk of the $19 million to $21 million needed for the YMCA’s portion has not been raised, John Barber, YMCA interim CEO, told county Planning Board members recently.

It’s good that local foundations are supporting the YMCA project, but they can’t possibly pay the entire cost of the YMCA’s share of the JCC project. We’re sure local officials are lobbying state and federal officials to support any and all grant applications that could help bridge the gap on the YMCA project. This merged project checks a lot of boxes, including sharing of services and resources.

We weren’t sure the Harrison Street YMCA building was the right project. But the JCC-YMCA project, in our opinion, is a better and more realistic project. It needs to become a reality soon – before the Fourth Street YMCA building is wholly inadequate.