Salvation Army Will Buy Troubled Anaheim YMCA : Acquisition: Terms of the agreement will allow facility to continue its North Street operations for up to four years and help retire a sizable debt.

In an expansion of community services that it offers to the city’s youth, the Salvation Army on Thursday announced a $1.5-million agreement to purchase the financially troubled Anaheim Family YMCA.

Terms of the purchase will allow the YMCA to continue operations at its North Street location for up to four years and help retire a debt estimated at between $1.5 million and $2 million that has mounted during the past decade, officials said at a Thursday morning news conference.

“We are absolutely thrilled that (the agreement) was able to come together,” said Lt. Lee R. Lescano, the Salvation Army’s Orange County coordinator. “One of our critical needs is the expansion of services for youth at risk. It’s also helping the YMCA continue services. We saw this as an excellent opportunity.”

The two organizations will coexist in the 55,000-square-foot facility. YMCA director Todd Ament said the YMCA will lease back the building for $3,000 per month. During the interim period, Ament said, officials will search for a new location closer to the city’s downtown redevelopment area.

“We’ve gone through some troubling times in the past couple of months,” Ament said of the organization’s tenuous financial condition, “but we’ve entered into an exciting collaboration with the Salvation Army.”

Ament said that much of the YMCA’s troubles centered on the local organization’s poor fund-raising efforts over the past 10 years. During that time, he said, the “programs ran well ahead” of the annual operating budget of $1.7 million.

The organization’s indebtedness reached a critical point earlier this year when Mike Larkin was dismissed as YMCA director.

The change in ownership, however, is not expected to affect the organization’s 92 staff positions and 1,800 members, Ament said.

“YMCA leaders will use the four-year transition period to assess which services would continue to benefit the community and what new direction the YMCA may pursue in order to best serve the Anaheim community,” Ament said in a written statement distributed during the news conference.

Talks are already underway with the city’s Redevelopment Agency concerning possible downtown property acquisitions to house future YMCA programs, the director said. Ament said a new downtown location could take advantage of new business and residential development in the area.

Robert Zur Schmiede, the agency’s property service manager, said that officials are considering a parking lot immediately east of City Hall and a vacant parcel next to the parking lot.

“With the people working and living in that area, membership would seem to be very natural,” Ament said.

For the Salvation Army, the YMCA site marks its third Anaheim facility. Lescano said the organization will continue to operate its centers at 201 E. Cypress St. and 1300 S. Lewis St.

Lescano said the Salvation Army’s Anaheim expansion represents a “radical change” in the condition of families, and especially youth, throughout the city.

He said the increased number of gangs represents a need for more youth services, which the Salvation Army can offer in a facility with existing recreational equipment.

Lescano said the Salvation Army will also be offering day-care programs, recreational leagues for seniors and other adults, and social programs targeting both youths and the aged.