Hey team,
We currently have a situation with two inactive gyms in our downtown area.
A few years ago, St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica contacted Niantic directly and had the gyms “turned off” because they were causing disruption to services.
Fast forward to 2025—our community has been steadily growing again through Campfire coordination and new PokéStop/Gym nominations. We’re even in the final review stage of the Community Ambassador program.
However, these two gyms remain in-game despite being completely inactive:
• They no longer spawn raids
• They don’t appear on Campfire
• They sit on the far edge of our play area, between two cells, making them impractical for the community
If we could get these inactive gyms removed, we’d have the opportunity to submit a more useful nomination closer to where our community actually plays.
I’d appreciate any guidance or help in moving this forward so we can clean up the area and make our local gameplay space more effective for everyone.
Thanks so much!
I have a similar situtation locally. The church had raids at gyms turned off, and has two gyms. The only gym in their respective L14 cells. I wish that turning off raids was not an option for the property owner, but they do not meet removal criteria.
I wish downgrading to a pokestop were the only option if the property owner doesn’t want us raiding there, because removal would take the cells to below the threshold for another gym, at least in one case. There isn’t anything else that meets criteria that I can find to submit. I won’t resort to trying to force through neighborhood signs.
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Welcome to the forums.
The third point about them sitting on the far edge of the play area is not actually that helpful, because the location of gyms is not determined by who needs them most or where they are most useful to players (or a particular group of players).
That they don’t spawn raids or appear on Campfire could be an issue, but only if they are preventing other pokestops from being converted to gyms. If they don’t prevent this, their existence shouldn’t be an issue. If they do, do you have evidence of the pokestop counts in cells versus the gym counts in those cells?
Also, these gyms don’t prevent you submitting wayspots elsewhere. That suggestion is a little confusing.
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Good day and welcome!
You might want to contact the basilica administrators, this is most probably the effect of a property owner request. The team may confirm if it is but the specific agreements made and the identity of the requestors are kept confidential.
One additional factor worth noting is that this location has a Baptist school attached to the far wing of the building.
Could you clarify what kind of evidence Niantic would need to show that these inactive gyms are preventing functional gyms from spawning? Since IITC is no longer being maintained, it’s difficult to provide current cell data.
If this non-functioning gym were removed, it would almost certainly open the way for another gym to spawn. At present, it sits as the third gym in the same cell, while we have plenty of active PokéStops nearby that would make stronger candidates for gym conversion—especially ones positioned away from the church/school area.
The school is located in a completely different building. There are no Wayspots connected to the school.
These Gyms do not meet our removal criteria. I understand your position but there is nothing we can do in this case.
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Hi there,
Would contacting the building Administrator be an option we could explore?
If you can get in touch with the property owner, please encourage them to reach out to us directly and we will be happy to address any concerns that they may have.
Best,
What would be the best contact information to give the building administrator?
They can reach us through this webform.
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Appreciate the assistance in this.
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