Foundation awards $165,000 to 8 Schenectady improvement projects
SCHENECTADY — The Schenectady Foundation on Friday announced eight projects that will benefit from a total of $165,000 under its Thriving Neighborhoods Challenge program.
Those include a new disc golf course, a church-run effort to clean up a troubled street corner and new and attractive amenities for a city park.
One of the most notable initiatives, foundation officials said, was conceived by Schenectady High School students and calls for improvements to Wallingford Park, such as a second basketball hoop with painted court mural, an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant swing and new benches.
Another is Hamilton Hill Pride, designed to beautify the corner of Hulett and Albany streets known for littering and crime by creating murals and working with residents and others to clean up the
area. In the last decade it was renamed to honor Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr.
“You’ve got the names of two American heroes, and then the street corner doesn’t reflect the pride we have in those names,” noted the Rev. Nicolle Jeansimon, pastor at Duryee Memorial AME Zion Church, which spearheaded the project.
Also receiving funding is the Caring for Carrie Street Park project, which will develop a plan to improve Carrie Street Park in the city’s Goose Hill/ Northside neighborhood. Money will be used to get resident input and hire a professional planner to incorporate their ideas into a workable plan, the foundation said. Beautification will also
begin with the planting of trees and painting and striping the basketball court.
“We feel we can jump-start the park revival process and build interest, energy and excitement in the neighborhood to make the renovation successful, one that will produce a park that neighbors want to go to,” said longtime Goose Hill resident Margaret Novak in a statement. “It is very important that there is input by kids, youth and adults who live in the neighborhood, so there is a feeling of ownership.”
Other projects awarded funds:
▪ A disc golf course in Steinmetz Park.
▪ The Wisdom Sharing Project,
to connect Schenectady youth with adults who can give them guidance on how to succeed in life.
▪ Reawakening East Front Street Part 2, creating a large, train-shaped flower planter that will celebrate the neighborhood’s history as a place where many of the people who worked at the nearby American Locomotive Company plant lived.
▪ Beautifying Crane Street, which will install flower planters along both sides of the street.
▪ Leveling the Playing Field, to improve the Michigan Avenue baseball field by adding enhancements such as a mural honoring the 1954 Little League World Series Championship team that played there.
Foundation Executive Director Robert Carreau said each project reflects the unique vision of a group of people with ideas for improving their neighborhoods and the desire to carry them out.
The grant proposals were reviewed by a panel of community members, the Thriving Neighborhoods Challenge Council. Their recommendations then went to the Board of Directors of The Schenectady Foundation for final approval.
This is the third round of Thriving Neighborhoods Challenge awards. During the two previous rounds, 17 projects were awarded $500,000.
The Thriving Neighborhoods Challenge is a public-private partnership supported by The Schenectady Foundation, the City of Schenectady, Wright Family Foundation and other donors.