An 11th hour deal has been struck to keep ownership of the Lake County Family YMCA in Vernon Hills, with all core programs and the popular day care center running uninterrupted after Wednesday, officials said Monday night.

In operation since 2001, The YMCA at 700 Lakeview Parkway was scheduled to cease operation by Wednesday because of massive debt.

Vernon Hills Village Manager Mike Allison said the village has agreed on an undisclosed price in excess of the $1.4 million on the table last week. The village will use surplus funds to purchase the property and the park district will run the facility’s programs, Allison said.

A news release tonight from the park district said, in part, that “the YMCA will continue operation of the facility until the Vernon Hills Park District closes on the purchase and commences operation of the facility no later than January 1, 2013. The Park District will continue providing the services of the YMCA including fitness membership, aquatic programs, day care, and after school care, at the current fees, regardless of residency status, for the immediate future.”

Village officials have said that much of the Y’s current staff would be hired by the park district.

David Doerhoefer, board president of the Park District, said he was confident that a deal would be struck, even after YMCA officials revealed last week that they had at least one higher offer from buyers likely to develop the facility for uses other than a fitness and program center.

Doerhoefer said village and park district officials were in close touch with YMCA officials over the weekend, working on details of a possible takeover.

Village Manager Mike Allison said the next step is to approve a sales contract, details of which would likely be discussed at a Nov. 7 Village Board meeting, the day after the general election.

Allison said the pending intergovernmental agreement “has had a lot of moving pieces to it and everyone has had to keep working on it. But everyone thinks it’s important to the village and its residents, and we just had to work out the details.”

“In all honesty it’s something we had a lot of confidence in,” said Allison, “and that stems from all three boards wanting to do the right thing. In any negotiation there are peaks and valleys, but the three boards were all very focused on what's best for members of YMCA and the community of Vernon Hills.”

Doerhoefer said local officials were motivated by the fact that “the Y has some amenities that the park district does not have, including the swimming pool and daycare facility and an after school club run by the Y.”