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The Salisbury YMCA Capital Campaign reached 60 percent of its goal last week when First Baptist Church offered to purchase the Salisbury YMCA on Fulton Street.
The offer came after church members voted 542 to 16, with a few abstentions, to purchase the facility.
“The sale is the boost this campaign needed,” said Jamie Morgan, CEO for the Rowan County YMCA.
The $1 million offer carried the campaign to $6,226,107.81 — roughly 60 percent of the $10 million goal. The campaign is planned to end at the end of June.
“We’re real excited about the Baptist Church making an offer to buy the Fulton Street facility,” said Edward Norvell, Salisbury Capital Campaign chairman. “I know they’ll be good stewards of the building and good neighbors,”
The church and the YMCA will set a “floating closing date,” according to the Rev. Keith Flippin, minister for education and outreach. By this he means that the church will not move into the facility until the YMCA’s new facility is ready.
Flippin said the YMCA has agreed, however, to allow the church to use the building, mostly on Sunday, when it is not open to the public.
“They’ve been very nice to accommodate us in that way,” he said. Flippin said for the time being the church will most likely use the space for Sunday school and youth events.
When the church does move into the facility, that use will expand. The most urgent need is for more space for Sunday school, according to Flippin, but the facility will also be used for child and senior events, vacation Bible school and social gatherings.
Flippin also hopes the church will start its own intramural program, something the church has never had because it did not have a facility to house such a program.
“We hope to use it as an outreach tool, as an introduction to our church,” he said.
Flippin said some people will come to a community event before they would attend a church service. This facility will give the church the ability to introduce members of the community to their church.
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