Local Families Outraged By Closure Of Short Pump Community Center

The nearly 250 member families of the Short Pump Community Center, Inc., an active pool and recreation center off Bacova Road, are outraged that representatives of SPCC, Inc’s founding organizations, are claiming that the community center has failed in its mission to serve the community and must therefore be closed. On September 10, the Short Pump Community Center’s […]

November 1, 2009; 11:26 PM • by Pam Hervey

The nearly 250 member families of the Short Pump Community Center, Inc., an active pool and recreation center off Bacova Road, are outraged that representatives of SPCC, Inc’s founding organizations, are claiming that the community center has failed in its mission to serve the community and must therefore be closed.

On September 10, the Short Pump Community Center’s nine Board of Directors held a vote to “dissolve and terminate Short Pump Community Center operations.” This motion passed by a 6-3-majority vote of board members. Those voting in favor included all directors representing the two founding organizations. The three dissenting directors included the Member representatives Jeffrey Bailey, Deborah Knott and Richard Rice, all of who are parents of children who regularly use the community center. Articles of Dissolution were signed by Don Fitzgerald, vice president of SPCC, Inc., on September 10 and submitted to the State Corporation Commission (SCC). Subsequently on September 14, the SCC issued a Certificate of Dissolution for the corporation.

In an effort to save the pool, Member families met on September 27 and created the Save Our Pool and Community Center, an organization of disenfranchised members of Short Pump Community Center. The new organization is led by an appointed board of nine Short Pump Community Center active members. On October 8, lawyers filed a petition with the SCC asking the SCC to deny the dissolution.

“Despite their best efforts, none of the multiple member meetings this year have convinced the Board to continue operations,” attorney James Wilson said. “So the goal for the Save Our Pool and Community Center is to obtain the legal authority to conduct a membership meeting in order to elect a new board of directors who are committed to the growth and success of our Center and hold a vote in order to update the Center’s outdated bylaws,” said Wilson.

“Members have invested hundreds of volunteer hours and have diligently paid the initiation fees, assessments and annual dues for years,” long-time member Laura O’Brien said. “We have many members who want to be involved and want to grow our community center and yet our efforts have been thwarted. In my opinion, it is sad that these six board members voted to dissolve operations and claim that we have failed as a community center, rather than work things out in a respectful, reasonable manner,” O’Brien said.

“The children love our little oasis in the middle of Downtown Short Pump. Why would anyone want to shut this community center down?” said Deborah Knott, a member of the Short Pump Community Center Board of Directors and a parent of two young daughters.

Short Pump Community Center was established in 1993 by the Short Pump Ruritans and the Short Pump Civic Association. Per the bylaws of the Short Pump Community Center, Inc., the Short Pump Civic Association and the Short Pump Ruritans hold six seats on the nine-person board of directors. Currently, these two organizations have a combined membership of less than 25 people. The Short Pump Community Center Bylaws require that proceeds from any dissolution, which are estimated to be in excess of $1 million are automatically transferred in equal parts to the Short Pump Ruritans and the Short Pump Civic Association.

November 1, 2009 11:26 PM 0