The master plan for a new Woodstock youth center and recreation facilities has received a largely positive response. The next step will be figuring out what to build first and how to pay for it.
The Youth Center Task Force’s assignment was to figure out how to replace the aging building on Rock City Road and how to reimagine use of the nearby fields. After a year of weekly meetings, the task force’s shoot-for-the-stars approach included a new youth center, a skate park, a senior center, indoor and outdoor pools, a gymnasium, a basketball and softball field, tennis and pickleball courts, woodland trails, a community garden, a kids’ adventure park with splash pad, a farmers’-market pavilion, and vastly expanded parking.
It was an ambitious task.
“We really spent a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of resources to find out what we as a community all wanted,” said task force chair Ben Schachter at the September 17 meeting of the town board.
Implementing the vision
Task force member Laurie Osmond said it was common knowledge that the youth center building was “past its prime in a big way.” She said that the town needed to continue to serve the families that live in Woodstock and attract new ones. Creating multigenerational spaces also had health benefits.
Many community sessions and a community survey had noted the lack of an adequate public pool. “Drowning is the leading cause of death in children from one to four, according to the CDC, and so teaching kids to swim was a big priority,” Osmond said. A state program called New York Swims was providing funding for swimming pools.
Youth center director Patrick Acker emphasized that the current youth center needed updating.
“It was nice that we’ve had it as long as we have, but we’ve kind of outgrown it. Our numbers are up conservatively about 25 to 30 percent over the last couple years,” Acker, who frequently cites that statistic, said.
Accessibility advocate Jacque Manganaro said she had joined the task force to make sure people of limited mobility were accommodated.
“Presently, the way the youth center sits, you have a ramp,” she said. “It’s a stairway to nowhere. Great ramp, but once you get in the building, you’re not going to be able to use any type of apparatus to get into the bathrooms.”
Task force member Peter Cantine said the group originally thought it had a lot more space to implement its grand vision, but that proved not to be the case.
“When we started our project, we thought we had this 17-plus-acre palette to paint whatever picture the community wanted on, right? Well, wrong.” Wetland delineations had shrunken the usable footprint “by probably more than half.
A campus green
Jere Tatich, an architect for Environmental Design Research (EDR), the firm hired to draft the youth center and recreation master plan, said the task force had considered “about 23 different versions” of its concept.
There are wetlands toward the rear of the property, he said, echoing Cantine, and some of the developable area has already been built upon, “So it’s taking all that program and reconfiguring it in the highest density possible to achieve the plan that was desirable.
“The plan that we arrived at is somewhat of a campus green, if you will,” Tatich said. “We heard that the village-green concept is extremely important, and we maintain that. So at the center of the plan is the village green, and that extends to a repositioned baseball field. So with baseball fields not in use for baseball, that green extends quite extensively.”
A lot to take in
On the map are plans for a farmers’ market pavilion where vendors’ vans can pull up along one side and people can walk along and browse. The pavilion idea was inspired by one that serves as a home to the Ithaca farmers’ market. When not used for the market, the pavilion can be used for other events.
The gym space was also flexible, with a movable divider so different events could take place at the same time.
The existing community center will have a second stage on the back that opens onto the field.
Next to the community center will be a new addition to house a senior center. A covered walkway will lead to the field straight ahead or to an Olympics-sized indoor pool to the right. Beyond the indoor pool is a smaller outdoor pool, a basketball court and a gymnasium. Behind the gym will be the new youth center, with a path leading to the rear of the property.
Many children enter Andy Lee Field and the youth center from the center of town through an unofficial path.
To the left of the community center will be 75 to 85 parking spaces, double the existing capacity.
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” said Schachter, a native Woodstocker. “This is a lot of change. We understand that. But I think if you take a step back and try to understand how we came to this plan, give it a little time and understand where we’re going with it, I think it’s super important to the future of the entire town.”
The concept is divided into three priorities, with the senior center and youth center being the first. The second piece is the pavilion and fields. The third is the indoor/outdoor pools.
“That’s how we’re thinking about it. Not stages, because if we can afford to do this at once we will do all of it. And if we can’t, we will think about the different priorities that we want to have financially,” Schachter said.
How to pay for it
Funding sources include the state, the county, the town and private donors.
“We’re going to try to raise a little bit of money here and there, but realistically, we need to find a handful of people that can write very, very significant checks,” Schachter said.
The town will figure out what will be funded by taxpayers, and it’s expected that the project will be put out to townwide vote through a ballot referendum.
Firm cost estimates need to be worked out.
Supervisor Bill McKenna was supportive. The town was in good shape for bonding at least some of the costs. All but around $300,000 in town debt will be paid off by next year, he said.
What is the time line?
“People are going to laugh when I say this, but people laughed when we started doing this and didn’t think we were going to have a full plan done by now,” Schachter said. “My goal is to have shovels in the ground by September 2025.”
McKenna said the town board needed to discuss the plan further. He favored as the first priority the senior and youth centers.
“As we drill down on the numbers, we’ll have that discussion,” the supervisor said. “I don’t anticipate going out to bond for the whole thing. But again, if the board decides we want to do all three phases and three bond questions, so be it,”
The master plan got a similar positive response from the rest of the town board.
“Personally think it’s the right direction,” councilmember Laura Ricci said. “I think it’s a wonderful plan, because it’s inclusive, it is broad-thinking, and it will move us forward.”
“I think the task force did an excellent job,” councilmember Bennet Ratcliff agreed. “I applaud the fact that they used a professional team to put the design together. I’ve met with several members of the task force, and I’ve told all of them I’m in full support going forward with the entire project.”
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