South Milwaukee’s school board has officially pulled the plug on its plan to buy the old Cudahy YMCA and remake it into a South Shore recreation hub, after consultants warned the building could turn into a financial sinkhole and residents started bracing for higher tax bills.
The board voted 7-0 yesterday to dissolve its preliminary purchase agreement, just a week after a facilities review flagged extensive repairs and three-year renovation costs in the neighborhood of $13 million, according to TMJ4. Superintendent Deidre Roemer told the crowd, "It is unfortunate that this one right now is not the right opportunity, but the fortunate part is that we had a lot of community input, which also is a huge value to the school board," and residents including Melissa Ellis said they were relieved to dodge a near-term tax increase.
The district’s recreation center project page lists the former YMCA at 3244 E. College Ave. in Cudahy with an asking price of $4,900,000, and the board’s move to dissolve the agreement appeared on its yesterday agenda. Project materials were reviewed and shared by the School District of South Milwaukee, and the public agenda is posted on the district’s BoardBook site under the School Board agenda.
How the districts had planned to pay
Before the deal fell apart, an intergovernmental cooperation agreement laid out how South Milwaukee and Cudahy would split the tab. South Milwaukee was set to act as fiscal agent and advance most of the purchase price, while Cudahy would kick in $200,000 toward acquisition and receive a defined ownership share.
The agreement spelled out a cost-sharing formula in which South Milwaukee would cover about 53.28 percent of shared costs and Cudahy would take on roughly 46.72 percent. South Milwaukee’s share was expected to be financed through debt issuance. The legal terms and calculations are detailed in the districts’ Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement (PDF).
Residents pushed for a referendum
While the districts were crunching numbers, a group of residents was busy collecting signatures. Opponents of the purchase launched a petition drive seeking to force a public referendum, arguing that voters, not just the board, should decide on major borrowing tied to a new community center.
Organizers needed about 1,701 valid signatures to place the question on the April ballot. Petition backers and several residents warned that the plan would likely require around $10 million in borrowing and pegged the estimated tax hit at about $50 a year on a $250,000 home, according to reporting from TMJ4.
What comes next
With the purchase agreement now off the table, the school board says there are no immediate plans to build a standalone recreation center. Instead, the Community Recreation Center Committee has recommended surveying residents to gauge priorities and shape any future proposal, a next step outlined on the School District of South Milwaukee project page.
The posted materials emphasize that, before any future offer or bond measure could advance, the district would first need to complete environmental testing, more detailed inspections and a concrete financing plan. In other words, no shovels in the ground without a clear roadmap and clear public buy-in.
For now, the former YMCA remains a studied-but-untouched possibility. Trustees say the combination of steep repair estimates and vocal taxpayer concern means that if the idea ever resurfaces, it will have to come with sharper cost projections, stronger community support and a financing plan both school boards can live with.
