Sunday, August 21, 2016
Group seeks to transform former Otisville school into community center
A group of residents is pressing forward in their attempt to turn the former Otisville elementary school into a community center.
A crowd gathered at the Mount Hope Senior Center last week for the first of two public hearings on the plan.
Frank Ketcham, a civil engineer whose family has lived in Mount Hope for 100 years, and Alison Miller, a BOCES English teacher who has lived there for 10 years, explained a strategy that would spare taxpayers the cost of demolition or rehab by relying on grants, donations, fundraising and “elbow grease.”
“We can make it a community resource and foster a sense of community that attracts people to Mount Hope,” said Miller.
She added later that Mount Hope has activities for seniors and youth, but little for the adults in between. The building would provide a place for adult education and other activities for that age group, as well as others.
Miller and Ketcham represented a small group, Friends of the Otisville School (FOTOS), that formed eight months ago and created a nonprofit a few weeks ago for the project.
They had researched the venture for almost three years as a committee formed at the Town Board’s request, following a referendum vote against selling the building to a Hasidic group in 2013.
Miller and Ketcham proposed a six-year trial plan that would begin with their group buying the building for one dollar from the town.
They would use the first year for planning, repairs and lining up resources. Then they would have five years to carry out their vision. If they failed, building ownership would revert to the town.
Town Supervisor Chad Volpe said demolishing the school would create five or six residential lots that would put the property back on tax rolls. But others questioned who would buy those new houses. Numerous other houses in town were for sale, Miller said.
“If they fail in six years, we’ve lost nothing,” said Ken Pinkela, who is on the FOTOS board. “If they succeed, that’s cool.”
“Warwick and Marlboro did it, and it worked,” said Jerry Cook, a member of FOTOS.
The plan was inspired by a community center that was created from an old building in Fonda, N.Y., said Ketcham. The FOTOS group has found other examples that succeeded, many supported by increasing numbers of available grants.
Meanwhile, KC Engineering had estimated that repairing the building would cost $4.1 million. Ketcham said they had overestimated costs of demolition at $1.6 million, when bids had come in for $218,000 and $276,000.
The Town Board will hold a second hearing on Sept. 6, and a referendum, not yet scheduled, will follow.
http://www.recordonline.com/news/20160821/group-seeks-to-transform-former-otisville-school-into-community-center
A crowd gathered at the Mount Hope Senior Center last week for the first of two public hearings on the plan.
Frank Ketcham, a civil engineer whose family has lived in Mount Hope for 100 years, and Alison Miller, a BOCES English teacher who has lived there for 10 years, explained a strategy that would spare taxpayers the cost of demolition or rehab by relying on grants, donations, fundraising and “elbow grease.”
“We can make it a community resource and foster a sense of community that attracts people to Mount Hope,” said Miller.
She added later that Mount Hope has activities for seniors and youth, but little for the adults in between. The building would provide a place for adult education and other activities for that age group, as well as others.
Miller and Ketcham represented a small group, Friends of the Otisville School (FOTOS), that formed eight months ago and created a nonprofit a few weeks ago for the project.
They had researched the venture for almost three years as a committee formed at the Town Board’s request, following a referendum vote against selling the building to a Hasidic group in 2013.
Miller and Ketcham proposed a six-year trial plan that would begin with their group buying the building for one dollar from the town.
They would use the first year for planning, repairs and lining up resources. Then they would have five years to carry out their vision. If they failed, building ownership would revert to the town.
Town Supervisor Chad Volpe said demolishing the school would create five or six residential lots that would put the property back on tax rolls. But others questioned who would buy those new houses. Numerous other houses in town were for sale, Miller said.
“If they fail in six years, we’ve lost nothing,” said Ken Pinkela, who is on the FOTOS board. “If they succeed, that’s cool.”
“Warwick and Marlboro did it, and it worked,” said Jerry Cook, a member of FOTOS.
The plan was inspired by a community center that was created from an old building in Fonda, N.Y., said Ketcham. The FOTOS group has found other examples that succeeded, many supported by increasing numbers of available grants.
Meanwhile, KC Engineering had estimated that repairing the building would cost $4.1 million. Ketcham said they had overestimated costs of demolition at $1.6 million, when bids had come in for $218,000 and $276,000.
The Town Board will hold a second hearing on Sept. 6, and a referendum, not yet scheduled, will follow.
http://www.recordonline.com/news/20160821/group-seeks-to-transform-former-otisville-school-into-community-center
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