The Hartwick Community Center is slated to move to the old hatchery building at 48 Wells Ave.
Earlier this month, the Hartwick Town Board accepted the sole bid to purchase the current community center, located at 103 Town Drive, from co-owner of Cooperstown Bat Company Tim Haney.
The town’s Community Center Committee discussed the renovation of the hatchery building Monday, July 1.
The committee thought of recommendations based on community needs to bring to the town board for the project.
Hartwick Town Clerk Andrea Vazquez said that the money the town received from the sale of the community center has been allocated towards the renovation.
“Those funds can only be used to the hatchery building unless the board all agrees that the funds are going to do something else, but I do not see that happening,” she said.
Council member Bryan LoRusso addressed community concerns about the choice to use these funds for the hatchery in particular.
He said that the building is already spacious and accessible.
“It’s a very nice building, it’s very straight, it’s a cool building,” he said. “It’s not a hard construction.”
Vazquez said that the common uses of the community center have changed, and that the hatchery would be effective to fulfill the current number of people who use the space and what they use it for.
“It was a different climate of people, a different climate of social gathering than it is now,” she said.
LoRusso said the main issue is the small construction window due to the weather. He said that weather delays cause price increases in the winter, but this building would not be a difficult project to take on.
“Let’s save a building, enhance our park, because in my opinion, our park is our greatest asset in this town,” he said.
He added that he foresees the street becoming more of a boulevard at some point in the future. He said that he agrees with the community asking for speed humps and better parking.
“This is Hartwick, let’s make it pretty,” he said.
Vazquez said recommendations for the board should include speaking to an architect about an official plan that could include more parking and speed humps.
Vazquez said that if the hatchery building were no longer on a seasonal road, it could make it more eligible for funding from the state Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program.
She said that the next step should be emptying the hatchery building, which is full of surplus fire department equipment.
The Hartwick summer activities program continues at the community center in accordance with the terms of its sale.
The Hartwick food pantry also will continue to operate out of the current community center for at least one year.
The next Hartwick town board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 8.