YMCA of Milwaukee Files Formal Reorganization Plan

The YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee announced it filed its formal reorganization plan on Sunday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, six months after it filed a petition for Chapter 11 protection with the court.

The Y has requested a hearing date and plans to exit Chapter 11 as soon as late January 2015.

As the Milwaukee Business Journal reported Monday, the reorganized Y will focus more on community health and rely less on fitness centers. In a press release, the Y said it will prioritize programs dedicated to swim education, corporate and community wellness, and senior wellness, in addition to fitness programming at its centers. The Y also said it will make a greater effort to bring its programs out to the community through partnerships with schools, corporations, parks, counties, municipalities and other non-profits "that can both help drive down costs and increase reach and effectiveness."

The restructuring process includes the sale of more than 70 percent of its owned properties and a reduction in staff by 55 percent. The Milwaukee Y will continue to operate five branches after exiting Chapter 11, but one of those branches could close if a buyer is not found, president and CEO Julie Tolan told the Business Journal. Four other branches that had been scheduled for auction earlier this year were eventually sold in September for $9.2 million.

"There are no real winners in a story like this except for the community hopefully, and that the Y will continue to, in an even more important way, make a contribution," Tolan told the Business Journal. "And the banks understood that the vendors are our relationships. So there are many things to say 'thank you' about at this moment."