Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster (KCSU) Officially Opens
Fall Classes Begin At Newly Renovated College Extension Center
Kingston, NY – Ulster County Executive Mike Hein was joined today by SUNY Ulster President Dr. Alan Roberts, President and CEO of Pattern for Progress Jonathan Drapkin, local leaders, and community members to celebrate the dedication and opening of the Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster (KCSU), located at the former Sophie Finn Elementary School at 94 Mary’s Avenue in Kingston. Located directly adjacent to the Kingston High School, the KCSU renovation is a cornerstone of the County Executive’s Strategic Taxpayer Relief through Innovative Visions in Education (“S.T.R.I.V.E.”) initiative announced in late 2012. After extensive planning and design, renovation of the closed elementary school began in September 2014, transforming the 30,000 square foot building and six-acre site into a modern, environmentally-friendly community college extension center in the heart of the City of Kingston.
“Today, we celebrate the results of an historic partnership between the County, SUNY Ulster, the City of Kingston, the Kingston City School District, and The Dyson Foundation and its transformational impact on our community,” said County Executive Mike Hein. “Where there could have been a graffiti-covered, boarded-up former elementary school building negatively impacting the neighborhood, we instead celebrate the opening of a state-of-art, beautifully renovated college center that will serve our community for generations to come. The Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster (KCSU) will open the doors of higher education to more of our youth in one of our most populated areas of the County and give people the opportunity to positively change their lives and better participate in the American Dream. Now, if you can walk to high school, you can now walk to college, and we invite our youth as well as our adult learners to take advantage of this historic opportunity.”
County Executive Hein continued, “This is just another example of the great progress this County can make by being both fiscally and socially responsible. My administration was successful in securing more than $6 million in grants for this transformative project, which has allowed us to open this impressive facility with no additional impact to local taxpayers. I want to thank Governor Cuomo and his administration for their commitment to this project from the very beginning. I also want to thank the Ulster County Legislature for their support in this process. It is extraordinary to see this project go from a dream I had to make college more accessible to a reality in less than three years as we open the doors to our first students next week.”
Meghan Taylor, Director of Empire State Development’s Mid-Hudson Regional Office: “This project repurposes a former Kingston elementary school into a satellite college campus for SUNY Ulster, and it’s a great example of state and local governments working with the private sector to provide the next generation with the skills and education they need to compete in today’s economy. Thanks to Governor Cuomo’s leadership, the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council is able to fund local initiatives like County Executive Hein’s that stimulate economic development and provide opportunities throughout the region.”
Dr. Alan Roberts, President of SUNY Ulster: “The Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster (KCSU) is a win-win-win project; a win for SUNY Ulster, a win for Ulster County and a win for the students that we will serve. The County Executive's visionary project is consistent with our core mission of providing access to higher education to everyone, and our new location enables us to expand this access. The future of SUNY Ulster and the KCSU is bright! Start here. Go far.”
Jonathan Drapkin, President & CEO of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress: “Several years ago, Pattern for Progress identified the growing issue of elementary school closings that were leaving vacant buildings in the heart of so many of our region’s communities. County Executive Hein designed an innovative and creative solution that brought together private and public organizations to transform a difficult problem into a wonderful opportunity and benefit to our community. As someone who was part of the first conversations on this project, it is gratifying to see this project move from a vision to a reality. This project will serve as a model for innovation across our region and State and provide hope for those struggling to access higher education.”
Andrea Reynolds, President & CEO of The Dyson Foundation: “The Dyson Foundation recognized the innovation behind this project at an early stage and was pleased to provide funding to make it possible. Today, we see firsthand the results of this initiative, which will improve the quality of many people’s lives and serve as an anchor for Kingston’s ongoing revitalization.”
County Executive Hein envisioned and proposed the S.T.R.I.V.E. initiative after learning the Sophie Finn Elementary School was slated to close in 2013 due to falling enrollments. Concerned the vacant school would become a blighted property in the heart of Kingston, County Executive Hein developed a solution to adapt and re-use the building as a community college extension center in order to expand access to higher education and job training for inner city students and bolster economic revitalization efforts in the City of Kingston. Working with non-profit and public partners to address shared challenges, County Executive Hein’s S.T.R.I.V.E. project broke down traditional barriers between organizations. The initiative enabled the County to consolidate various County services and realize operational savings by closing underutilized County facilities as well as providing long-term savings to County, City and School District taxpayers.
Ulster County purchased the Sophie Finn Elementary School property from the Kingston School District in 2014. The renovation and site construction at the KCSU began in September 2014 with the goal of opening for fall classes in 2015. The project’s extensive interior renovations and site work include:
· Re-orientation of the main entrance of the building from Mary’s Avenue towards the Kingston High School and construction of a new glass entrance vestibule
· Expansion of on-site parking by 130 spaces and renovation of the former parking area
· Replacement of the building’s numerous window walls with modern, efficient ones
· Renovation of all interior spaces and upgrades to major building systems
· Addition of an elevator and modifications to ensure ADA compliance and accessibility
· Removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials
· Upgrades to IT infrastructure in building and development of ten “smart classrooms”
· Use of environmentally-friendly technologies throughout the building to save energy and water
· Inclusion of green stormwater features to reduce stormwater impacts to Kingston
The $7.83 million KCSU renovation approved by the Ulster County Legislature in October 2014 is being completed on budget and in time for the start of the fall semester for SUNY Ulster. Approximately $6.2 million (or 80 percent) of the total project costs were obtained by the County Executive through State, federal and private grants. The funding sources include the SUNY Office of Capital Facilities, Empire State Development (ESD), the New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. (EFC), and The Dyson Foundation. The remaining $1.6 million will be bonded and repaid by SUNY Ulster’s lease of the facility.
The KCSU will house a wide-range of credit and non-credit classes, including general education classes, human services courses, and continuing education programs. The Center also incorporates the College’s Police Academy program, offering a state-of-the-art facility to train law enforcement officials. The KCSU also makes available for the first time a full range of student support services, such as registration and financial aid counseling, which were previously available only at the SUNY Ulster main campus in Stone Ridge. A full listing of available classes at KCSU is available at the following link: https://sunyulster.edu/academics/kcsu-classes.php. Police Academy classes started at the KCSU on August 17 with all other courses beginning next Monday.
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Pictured Below: Photograph of ribbon cutting (L to R – Legislator Ken Ronk, Legislator Jeanette Provenzano, Legislator Mary Wawro, Mayor Shayne Gallo, SUNY Ulster President Dr. Alan Roberts, County Executive Mike Hein, Executive Director of the Dyson Foundation Andrea Reynolds, Legislator Peter Loughran, Executive Director of Pattern for Progress Jonathan Drapkin, and Rev. James Childs, Sr.)
Photograph of County Executive Mike Hein at podium
