Counselor to CEO: Bill Lovett’s YMCA journey
BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer

JAY BODAS Edison-Metuchen-Woodbridge YMCA CEO Bill Lovett addresses a crowd on July 26 at a ribbon-cutting for the new Hale Fitness Center opened recently at the Metuchen branch of the YMCA.

METUCHEN –– It was more than 30 years ago that Metuchen-Edison-Woodbridge YMCA CEO Bill Lovett began his work with the Y as a summer camp counselor in Summit.

He was hooked.

“When I graduated from college in 1975, I had a scholarship to the University of Kentucky to get a Ph.D. in political science as well as the chance to run a storefront branch of the YMCA in Summit,” Lovett, 52, recalled. “I say “storefront” because in terms of its size, it would be the equivalent of having a Y at Lucca’s on Main Street.”

Shortly after graduation, Lovett began a new job as director of the Summit YMCA.

He started up a soccer league in 1977 made up of almost 700 children, ages 5 to 9 years old.

“As a 23-year-old kid, I had enough freedom to start it and do something of significance, and that’s what hooked me on the YMCA,” Lovett said.

He then earned a master’s degree in education with a specialization in community leadership and development from Springfield College in Illinois.

A few years later, he was promoted to a corporate position with the Summit YMCA. While there, he met and married Debby, his wife of 19 years, with whom he has two stepchildren and a grandson.

He stayed at the Summit Y until 1988, when he left Summit to become director of the Metuchen YMCA.

In 1988, the YMCA was housed in the old section of the current building on High Street.

“Money was really tight in 1988, and it took time to get things going,” Lovett said.

The Y had a $700,000 annual budget, five full-time employees and 20 part-timers.

“Now, we have a $10 million annual budget with 100 full-time employees and almost 90 part-timers,” he said.

Transforming the Metuchen YMCA was a challenge.

“At that point the facility was not barrier-free and not up to fire code, meaning it was not handicapped-accessible,” Lovett said. “People who were wheelchair-bound, we had to carry them up the stairs before we did the renovations. Every morning I would actually carry a YMCA staff-member, who was disabled, up the stairs,.”

It wasn’t long before improvements to the Metuchen branch began.

“The first thing we did was create the Health Enhancement Center (HEC) in 1989, which we opened on the top floor of the Y complete with cardiovascular equipment,” Lovett said. “It was renamed the Hale Fitness Center after Dick Hale in 1998 and was just recently moved to the second floor.”

Lovett credits longtime member and volunteer Richard Hale, who passed away in 2004 for much of what the Y has achieved during his tenure. Hale began as a youth member in the 1920s and founded an annual YMCA golf outing in 1994 that is now named after him.

“Whatever we’ve accomplished in the 17 years, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without Dick Hale,” Lovett said. “I’m just sorry he isn’t here to see it, though I’m glad his wife, Ruth, who is now 82, was able to come to the opening of the fitness center named after him.”

What is now the main entrance to the Metuchen YMCA opened in 1998.

Plans for the expansion began in 1992. It took two years for the Y to receive approval from the zoning and planning boards, he said.

“It was a very long process for everyone,” said Lovett. “In 1994 the plans were approved, with Dick Hale chairing the campaign that raised nearly $3 million for the project. We began construction in 1996, and it was completed two years later. It was a tough process, but we wanted to expand our services for the community.”

The Y also opened 11 child-care centers in the local area. The first one, the Edgar Child Care Center, was opened in 1990 across the street from the Metuchen YMCA.

In addition to his work with the YMCA, Lovett serves on a statewide governor’s task force on obesity.

“I hope when the task force finally issues its report in the next six months, we will play a role,” he said. “The report will have recommendations for the state Legislature, for local schools, and for local communities on ways of combating childhood obesity in New Jersey.”

The YMCA has also expanded into nearby Edison and Woodbridge in recent years.

“The partnership with the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Edison, initiated in December 2002, is the first of its kind in the U.S., and it has done even better than I thought it would do,” Lovett said. “We are even starting to look at an extension, and it is a great melting pot for Edison, where people of all backgrounds have become members.”

The Woodbridge YMCA, which opened in April 2002, is a “very different” collaboration than Edison’s but it is still a success, he said.

“It is a partnership with both the municipal government and with a private third party,” Lovett said. “There is no road map for what we are doing and it is all brand new, but we have been able to figure it out. We have had a lot of inquiries from other YMCAs and communities on how they can do this themselves.”

The Woodbridge YMCA has about 7,300 members, the Edison YMCA has around 8,400 members, and Metuchen has 9,000 members. The membership has been split up to alleviate crowding at any one particular branch, he said.

Lovett is also considering expanding into Piscataway and South Amboy.

“Neither project has yet been finalized, but an announcement will be made in the next several months,” he said. “I think we should not shy away from the responsibility of trying to expand to serve the greater community in Middlesex County.”