Dream comes closer for Miracle on craig Street
“Pave the Way” is final fundraising push for a facility with many uses
A final push is getting started to raise funds toward securing an old Schenectady community center for new uses.
What once seemed like a distant dream is becoming a reality now that a grassroots group has secured enough money to close on the vacant Carver Community Center and begin to fix it up for the neighborhood.
Miracle on Craig Street, the group behind the project, has raised about $45,000 to add to $150,000 in pledges from the city of Schenectady and the Metroplex Development Authority, according to Rosa Rivera, executive director of the nonprofit organization.
The city has also donated the rundown building, which would be converted to a $1.5 million facility featuring a multicultural library, juice bar and meditation room.
Rivera said the group is making one last fundraising push with the “Pave the Way” campaign: For a $500 donation, a person can buy a brick paver for the walkway in front of the Craig Street building.
Rivera is expected to update the City Council on Tuesday about the group’s progress.
Beset with financial problems, Carver closed in 2013 and has remained vacant after several failed attempts to auction it off.
While the center is structurally sound, Rivera said that it will need some work — including new windows — because of the mess created by youngsters who broke in after Carver was shuttered.
Rivera talked excitedly about two evolving partnerships with Community Fathers Inc. and Parsons Mantel, a nonprofit.
“I think this is really big for us to have these collaborations,” Rivera said. “That way we can really have strong anchors in the community center so that it can
be successful.”
City Council President Ed Kosiur said Friday that he can’t wait for the new facility to open its doors.
“Between that organization and the Boys & Girls Club opening up very soon ... we’re certainly going to be providing many opportunities for our youth in the city,” he said. “Sustainability is the key thing.”
Formed in 2015, Miracle on Craig Street was formerly known as 48 Hour Miracle, a reference to the time it had to raise money to buy the building at auction. It’s made up mostly of people from the surrounding Hamilton Hill neighborhood.