A lawsuit has been filed against the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka after the organization sold its Geneva Park property in Ramara earlier this month.
A group called Friends of Geneva Park announced Wednesday it was taking “legal action opposing the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka’s (YSM) sale of Geneva Park to private purchaser Commercial Realty Group.”
In a news release, the group stated it believed “the sale of Geneva Park to a private purchaser for profit purposes is completely incongruent with the pre-existing and historical intention of the park and its stakeholders of the past 100 years.”
“Selling the property by way of a private sale as the YSM is doing has failed to consider its promises and representations made to the Geneva Park family program community over the years,” said Doug Simpson, Friends of Geneva Park (FoGP) board member. “In our view, the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka has violated the trust upon which it holds Geneva Park.”
The group noted the YMCA relied on financial contributions from “the Geneva Park community” over the years to keep it going.
“Until YSM announced its intention to sell, it assured the community that funds raised for Geneva Park would only be used for Geneva Park and that any funds raised would ensure the family camp would continue to exist for future generations to come,” the news release read.
“FoGP has tried to propose alternative solutions, including providing three expressions of interest to meet the YSM’s objectives. Concerned stakeholders have shared hundreds of letters and the community’s concerns have not been addressed by the YSM. Most concerning to the FoGP is the cloak of secrecy around the pending sale of Geneva Park.”
Steve Cook, a former Geneva Park advisory committee member, echoed that concern.
“After promising transparency and integrity for the past year, and recently announcing that there was a sale contract that would ‘preserve the legacy of Geneva Park,’ YMCA Simcoe/Muskoka has kept us in the dark about the future of the family camp program,” he said.
The group explained the title of Geneva Park was transferred to the YMCA in 1919 by philanthropist William Thomson, with the purposes of the property to be training and outdoor recreation.
“The property’s acquisition and initial infrastructure was financed by charitable gifts from eight principal donors. The cottages along the cottage line portion of the property were built by the family camping community in the 1920s in return for rights of occupancy,” the news release read. “Over time, a strong tradition was built in which the many families who visited Geneva Park donated money to the YMCA for the building and upkeep of the infrastructure, all to support the family camp and leadership programs.”
Legal action against the YMCA is “the last resort for the FoGP, following 15 months of attempted collaboration between the Geneva Park community and the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka.
“The action was taken with much regret, and only after repeated calls for transparency and inclusion were denied.”
Updates and further information can be found at genevaparklegacyalliance.ca.
