Downey city council pledges $1 million towards new YMCA

DOWNEY — After over a year of requests and discussions, the Kolar Family YMCA finally has its answer: the city of Downey will help fund its new facility.

At a special meeting on Tuesday where Downey’s top brass came together to discuss Downey’s impending Fiscal Year 2024/25 budget, Downey’s City Council voted 4-0 (Councilwoman Dorothy Pemberton abstained) to allocate $1 million to the Y over the course of three years.

The Y will receive $333,333. The remaining two $333,333 allotments will need to be approved in subsequent yearly budget talks.

As has happened before, talks of funding the Y came saddled with consideration of the upcoming expansion of the Columbia Memorial Space Center. According to City Manager Roger Bradley, the first phase of that project – which includes construction of the new building and restoration of the full-sized space shuttle mock-up – will cost about $34 million, of which the city has secured $13.5 million.

As it turns out, however, Downey’s space museum will be getting the exact same treatment as the Y, with the city council unanimously voting (5-0) to also give it $1 million across three years, pending approval of each allotment.

Funds will be taken from one time projects, this year from the City Hall Renovation Project.

Downey’s already deteriorating YMCA building closed in 2020 during the pandemic, with the organization working fervently to raise the over $20.6 million it needs to build its new state-of-the-art facility. The city had previously chosen to support the effort by waiving various fees, totaling over $296,000.

The project so far has raised more than $12.3 million, including $850,000 secured by Congressman Robert Garcia.

The Y kicked off a community campaign to raise $1 million in April.