Lack of Funds Forces Cutback in U.S. Fitness Academy Plans

Beset by fund-raising difficulties, officials of a major U.S. Fitness Academy proposed for south Orange County have sharply scaled back plans for the facility.

Former professional football coach George Allen and other officials of the nonprofit National Fitness Foundation told The Times they were abandoning a largely unsuccessful effort to raise $50 million to build a single ambitious building near Laguna Niguel. They said they now will concentrate on raising $30 million to pay for construction, in stages, of a series of smaller buildings.

Allen, chairman and chief executive officer of the foundation, conceded that it has only about $250,000 cash in the bank to show for six years of fund raising. The foundation has decided to hire a professional fund-raising firm.

Allen’s foundation recently advised Orange County authorities of the plan to build smaller, individual buildings as fund raising allows, rather than construct the single, 250,000-square-foot structure that was originally approved for the site near Laguna Niguel.

Allen and foundation Executive Director Hal Trumble attributed delays in the project to the time it took to win local government and Coastal Commission approval for the facility and to difficulty raising money from corporate sponsors.

The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. granted Allen’s nonprofit foundation $250,000 when the fitness academy was originally planned for that city.

Asked for Money Back

But in 1985 when the foundation chose an Orange County site instead of one in Indianapolis, the endowment asked for its money back. The foundation kept the money, contending it had no legal obligation to return it.