Club Odyssey, a youth center in the city of Oneonta, is moving its operations to Muller Plaza for a second year in a row this summer.
FOR-DO Youth Services Coordinator Kaler Carpenter said that Club Odyssey is working in conjunction with the city’s Downtown Renaissance Program to bring games and activities, as well as support and guidance, outside and directly to the public.
“We share the goals of the reimagining of Muller Plaza program, which is to activate this space and to make it a community space that’s welcoming and engaging,” he said. “That goal has expanded this summer, which is exciting, to include other parts of downtown, like Dietz Street.”
Tables set up in Muller Plaza Friday, June 14 included cards, games and menus for nearby restaurants with QR codes. Carpenter said that people can sit, scan, place their order and CDO Workforce’s youth work program members will pick up the food and deliver it right to the table.
Other activities in the plaza include the giant chess board — a popular attraction last year — musical instruments, cornhole, jump rope and a new kids waterpark game.
Carpenter said that the new baseball pitching station was created through FOR-DO.
“The idea is they’ll do a few pitches normal ones,” he said, “and then we put drunk goggles on them and that kind of educates them on the effects of alcohol intoxication, then we talk to them about that.”
Carpenter said that hopefully by next week the program will be unveiling a brand-new welcome center information display to replace their current table.
“That’s going to be up here 24/7,” he said. “It’s going to have waterproof places to put pamphlets and postings for community events, as well as a giant umbrella and benches.”
FOR-DO’s presence in Muller Plaza is a part of Mayor Mark Drnek’s Downtown Renaissance program, which aims to bring more patronage to Main Street in the summer.
At a Common Council meeting April 16, council members expressed confusion at the inclusion of FOR-DO as plaza ambassadors in Drnek’s program. The current fiscal year budget includes $16,500 for FOR-DO to run its summer program. An election in October added four new council members who were not a part of that budget decision making process.
Drnek said that Carpenter spoke to the Common Council and that the issue was resolved.
“It was a fund that had already been approved in the budget,” he said. “It was just a case of whether or not the council was going to decide to move that to a different entity performing probably the same function.”
Drnek said that Carpenter and his work plays an important role in making Main Street and downtown a destination in Oneonta for visitors and a great place for residents.
“What a wonderful project to have a safe place, a non-alcoholic, drug-free space,” he said. “He brings morality and the kind of adult oversight, but he also brings this kind of really positive connection to the younger demographic.”
Carpenter said that the Muller Plaza funding goes to Club Odyssey to support youth in Otsego County, so while the budget was being discussed, he wasn’t able to expand onto Main Street until there was a definitive answer.
“It certainly put me on edge, as far as there was a chance it won’t go through, and this is a big part of our funding for our program,” he said.
“Thanks to the Muller Plaza program being passed and funded,” he added, “not only do we have all these activities taking place, we’re also able to expand the Club Odyssey to a new location,” he said.
Club Odyssey is scheduled to have a presence in Muller Plaza from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday through Sept. 14.