Members establish nonprofit with hopes of buying Belleville gym that was set to close
The Belleville Health and Sports Center was scheduled to be shut down by Memorial Hospital but a new nonprofit group signed a lease on Tuesday for the building off South 74th Street.
It plans to run the center for at least the next three months even though Stookey Township rejected a request for $30,000 in assistance.
Longtime club members were upset in November when they learned that Memorial Hospital wanted to close the gym on Dec. 31. The new group, Belleville Community Health Club, is urging members to remain with the gym located at 1001 S. 74th St. along the border of west Belleville and Stookey Township.
And in a nod to the 1947 Christmas movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” the sign in front of the health club proclaims “Miracle on 74th Street Join Now!”
“We’re doing our best to make it happen,” said Pat Mathis, a Belleville attorney who is the chairman of the board for the Belleville Community Health Club.
Mathis said the board members are getting plenty of support, but will still use the next 90 days to determine whether it is viable to buy the facility and keep it operating. For now, the employees who worked for Memorial Hospital have agreed to stay with the new group.
The center has had 1,400 to 1,500 full- and part-time members. The new board hopes to draw upon them for support.
“People are really excited,” Mathis said of the prospects of keeping the club open when it appeared to be doomed.
Mathis noted that the health center is more than just a place to lift weights and exercise. He agreed with the dozens of members who told the News-Democrat in November that the gym is like a community center where members make friendships that last for years.
Mathis said the board will examine ways to raise more revenue. To do this, some dues and fees may be raised and new programs may be started, he said.
Memorial, which has operated the health club since the late 1980s, had been losing money at the club, Mathis said. He said a confidentiality agreement with Memorial Hospital prevented him from disclosing the details of those losses.
Anne Thomure, a spokeswoman for Memorial Hospital, said in a statement that the hospital is helping the new group “get their feet on the ground and continue” operating the center but she also declined to release details of the lease agreement.
The center won’t have to make a profit but at the same time the new board doesn’t plan to keep the center open if it loses money, Mathis said.
Stookey Township rejects support
The new health center’s board had hoped to get a $30,000 donation from Stookey Township to help with the transition from Memorial to the new, non-profit group but the township board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to deny the funding.
Supporters of the plan said the gym contributes to the quality of life for township residents and the donation would prevent another vacant building. Opponents of the donation raised questions about whether it was legal for the township to make the donation, whether it was an appropriate to put taxpayer money to such use, and what precedent would be set when other charity groups step forward with similar requests for funds.
Stookey Trustees Mark Bagby, Tom Kroupa and Ryan Stookey voted against the funding while Supervisor David Bone and Trustee Dan Barger voted for the funding.
The board also voted to get a legal opinion to see if state law would allow the township to fund the nonprofit group.
Several residents told the board they opposed the donation while one spoke in favor of the idea. The crowd applauded after the board’s two votes.
Bagby, who made the motion to get the legal opinion, said he was glad “cooler heads prevailed.”
Bone, who proposed the motion to use $30,000 from the Town Fund to support the gym, said he was “disappointed” with the rejection. Bone, who is an attorney, said he believes state law would allow the type of funding he proposed.
Mathis said it was “unfortunate” the Stookey Township board rejected the request but that his group was committed to move forward.
“It’s better than not doing anything,” Bone said during the Stookey meeting. “If we can help them stay viable and open, it’s great for Stookey Township in the long run. It may not work but I’m not going to sit back and not do anything.”
Bone compared supporting the health center to the township’s development of Stookey Township Park near the gym off South 74th Street.
“We did that in 2005,” Bone said of the park. “A lot of people didn’t think we should do that. Well, the majority of people supported it.
“And look what that park’s done for Ogles, for Dorchester, for those neighborhoods. It’s been incredible.”
Bagby agreed that the center provides a valuable service for area residents but he doesn’t want tax money to be spent on it.
“I don’t think anybody wants to see it go away but Stookey Township is not a bank,” he said.
Township or city?
Bagby raised the question about whether the gym is even located in Stookey Township.
Bagby said an annexation ordinance approved by the Belleville Council in 2003 indicated that the center was annexed when the city took in the Stonehenge condominiums adjacent to the gym.
Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert said he understood that the center was not part of the 2003 Stonehenge annexation but he would have City Attorney Garrett Hoerner review the ordinance presented by Bagby.
This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
