BLOOMINGTON - The Bloomington-Normal YMCA has changed its plans to build a larger YMCA on the far east side to replace the landlocked Y building south of downtown.

YMCA was not able to raise $10 million for the new 62,500-square-foot Family YMCA, so the Y board of directors is releasing the donated property off Ireland Grove Road back to its donors, said YMCA Executive Director Dennis Mohrman and Greg Poling, chairman of the Y board and its capital campaign steering committee.

About $3.6 million has been raised in the campaign's major donor phase, including $1.5 million from the State Farm Companies Foundation, Mohrman said Friday.

"I'm disappointed that we weren't able to deliver," Poling said. "But as one door closes, another door opens, and I'm sure that we'll find a way to keep this 154-year-old organization moving forward."

Poling said the board and steering committee are looking at other opportunities to increase the Y's multipurpose gym space, green space for outdoor activities, and parking, and to build a warm-water therapy pool. Because those needs can't be met at the 602 S. Main St. building, the Y accepted the six acres of donated land for a new Y building in 2006.

Where and when those needs will be met now isn't known. The Y board doesn't know whether the Y will remain at its current location or eventually relocate, Mohrman and Poling said.

A tough economy

As Mohrman and board members have met with donors, "not one single person has indicated to me that they want their money back," Mohrman said. As the Y develops its next plan, board members will check with donors to make sure they're still on board.

"Across the country, it's been hard for charitable organizations to raise money with the economy the way it is," Mohrman said.

Poling conceded that asking Bloomington-Normal area residents for $10 million while deciding to move the YMCA from its inner-city location may have a played a role in some people's decisions to not donate. "But no one told me that they were not going to give because we were moving to the east side," said Poling, a State Farm claim consultant.

Mohrman had argued that increased membership that would have come with the new east-side location would have allowed the Y to increase the number of members who get financial assistance.

Last year, YMCA announced that it would give its existing building to Cornerstone Christian Academy after the Y moved into its new building in 2009. Cornerstone - a nondenominational, independent school east of Bloomington - planned to use the Y building for early childhood education for children whose families can't afford Cornerstone's tuition.

Cornerstone Administrator Becky Shamess said Friday that when it appeared that the Y project wasn't progressing, Cornerstone pursued other options. It has rented space at Grace United Methodist Church, 622 S. Clinton St., Bloomington, for one classroom for preschoolers and another classroom for kindergarteners and first-graders. Classes begin in August.

"We felt badly for the Y, but our plans were never contingent on receiving that building," Shamess said.

The Links at Ireland Grove is the partnership that had donated the land on Tullamore Avenue for the new Y building.

"We're disappointed," said Darren Rogers, a Links partner. "We hoped the Y would be here and viewed it as an important part of the overall development. We don't have any plans for that property at the moment."