Site cleared for community center, housing project in city of Utica

UTICA — A project to develop a community center in Utica took a big step forward recently with the demolition of the Mid-Utica Neighborhood Preservation Corporation (MUNPC) building, also known as the Leisure Time Activity Center building, on West Street. The demolition makes way for the $74 million Cornhill Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative’s West Street Impact Center, which will serve as one of two anchors for the community’s transformation. The West Street Impact Center will include 78 mixed-income apartments, a multipurpose gym for youth and adult fitness activities, co-working space for community nonprofits, senior activities, and workforce training, the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties announced in a press release. The initiative is a collaboration between community partners including the Community Foundation, MUNPC, the Collective Impact Network, the City of Utica, and People First. Demolition planning was made possible by the Greater Mohawk Valley Land Bank and Oneida Herkimer Solid Waste Authority. “This step signifies not just progress but a promise that we hold to this community,” Community Foundation President/CEO Alicia Fernandez Dicks said in the release. The Leisure Time Activity Center provided social programming, bible studies, community gathering space, and youth daycare services under MUNPC for 45 years. “We deeply cherish and honor the important role that Leisure Time has served throughout Utica, including the historically innovative programming for the older adults and Black members of our community,” MUNPC Board Chair Hilda M. Jordan said. “We are truly excited for the many opportunities the impact centers will develop in the community and are happy to see MUNPC’s mission to promote community wellbeing continue on for years to come.” The West Street Impact Center will be joined by the James Street Impact Center, which will repurpose vacant lots to create 24 units of mixed-income housing and offer other services and spaces. Other work under the initiative will include park improvements, lighting and pedestrian-safety upgrades, creating an urban fitness trail, and working to develop empty lots. “A brighter, more inclusive future lies ahead for this community, and the impact centers are just the start,” Dicks said.