Edgar May center received $900K from fund

The Edgar May Health and Recreation Center has received more than $900,000 in the past nine years from the $3 million civic improvement fund set up with money from the state after Springfield voted to host the state prison.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20131127/NEWS02/711279950

The Edgar May Health and Recreation Center has opened a satellite fitness center in downtown Springfield in the former Mason Building.Above, Christian Craig, the center’s executive director, sits on one of the new spinning cycles in the satellite building. Below, the outside of the Edgar May Health and Recreation Center on Clinton Street is shown. Photo: Photoa by Len Emery Published November 27, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Edgar May center received $900K from fund By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — The Edgar May Health and Recreation Center has received more than $900,000 in the past nine years from the $3 million civic improvement fund set up with money from the state after Springfield voted to host the state prison. The fund hasn’t produced much income for the nonprofit recreation center in recent years because of the decline in the stock and bond market. But those markets have rebounded and last year the fund produced more than $350,000 for the center, according to Town Manager Robert Forguites. The money came from both capital gains and quarterly earnings on the fund, which is invested in stocks, bonds and cash. Christian Craig, executive director of the recreation center, said the money had been used for deferred maintenance and capital improvements. These included replacing the floor in the locker room, buying new exercise equipment for the center’s fitness center, and subsidizing the rates for seniors and youth at the center. Craig said the Edgar May Health and Recreation Center had the lowest rates in the region compared to similar nonprofit recreation centers. He also said the $10 monthly fee for youths and $31 fee for seniors were much lower than other facilities. Those two age groups were specifically targeted by the foundation that runs the center. Without the trust fund, Craig said, fees would be $10 to $20 a month higher. He said the center also has a scholarship fund for people and children who can’t afford the fees. A new recreation center in Claremont, N.H., has lower fees, Craig said, but it’s directly subsidized by the city and financed by a $6 million city bond. Craig said that for four years, the Edgar May center only received about $60,000 a year from the civic improvement fund, just enough to cover property taxes. He estimated the center’s annual operating budget was $650,000 to $700,000. He said the community response to the center has been strong, and a satellite fitness center has been opened in downtown Springfield in the former Mason Building. He said group exercise classes such as yoga, pilates and spinning were being held there. “The program is booming,” he said. The recreation center is now owned by Springfield Medical Care Systems, the corporate parent of Springfield Hospital, a move that exempted the recreation center from property taxes, which were about $35,000 a year. At one point, the center was contesting its tax status, noting that other similar recreation facilities such as YMCAs were tax exempt. Hospitals are property tax-exempt. Forguites and Craig outlined the status of the fund for the Springfield Select Board on Monday night, about a month after the town appointed Forguites to the five-member board that oversees the trust fund. Other members of the panel include Town Attorney Stephen Ankuda, and Eric Bibens and Douglas Priestley, who are appointed by the foundation’s board, and Stephan Morse of Newfane, who is appointed by the other four members. Forguites replaced longtime board member Paul F. Hudson, a retired Vermont district court judge from Springfield, who recently resigned when he moved out of town. The committee works with an investment consultant, which is People’s United wealth management division, Forguites said. The bank has received $177,500 over the nine years of managing the fund, he said. The fund, which at one time dropped to about $2.2 million because of declines in the stock market, is now at $2.88 million. Under the original agreement, the town was allowed to use $300,000 of the $3 million from the state for townwide recreation projects. So far, the town has withdrawn $225,000 for its projects, and it is still entitled to get $75,000, the manager said.