HAMILTON HEIGHTS — The Boys and Girls Club of Harlem moved one step closer Thursday to turning its new home from a deserted school building to a $48.6 million state-of-the-art facility, along with affordable housing.
Community leaders and local politicians broke ground on the former P.S. 186 building at 549 W. 145th St., beginning the construction that will turn the long-vacant school into a new home for the Boys and Girls Club by the summer of 2016.
“This a great day indeed,” said Boys and Girls Club board member Christopher Walter.
The groundbreaking was a long time coming.
The school has been vacant since 1975, and the while the club bought it from the city in 1986 for $215,000, it took decades for the final plans and finances to take shape, Walter said. The building was neglected to the point that trees started to grow inside the former school.
During the early stages of planning for the project, developers proposed demolishing the school and starting from scratch. But community members were adamant about keeping the historic structure, Walter said.
The current plan will do this by carving out space for the Boys and Girls Club on the ground floor and turning the rest of the building into affordable housing.
The project will repair the building's original cast-iron and wrought-iron staircases, preserve the original ceiling heights and include replicas of the original windows, officials said.
Construction will cost about $48.6 million, a spokesman for the project said.
The Boys and Girls Club will use its space to run academic, athletic and art programs, including classes in environmental education and a character and leadership development course.
The affordable units will be broken down as follows:
► Ten will be for individuals making less than $23,000 and families of four making less than $33,550.
► Five will be for individuals making less than $29,400 and families making less than $41,950.
► Forty-five will be for individuals making less then $35,280 and families making less than $50,340.
► Seven will be for individuals making less than $76,440 and families making less than $109,070.
► Eight will be market-rate.
Walter said Thursday's groundbreaking was a victory for people who had worked on the project for the past three decades.
“We are fighters in Harlem — we don’t let opportunities pass by,” he said. “This building expresses the aspirations of this community.”
