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Williamsburg Cultural Center Seeks Arts Ideas for Firehouse Space

By Serena Dai | January 23, 2015 3:31pm | Updated on January 26, 2015 8:58am
 The Northside Town Hall and Community Center has already hosted a variety of arts events but is looking for a more longterm plan as fundraising wraps up.
The Northside Town Hall and Community Center has already hosted a variety of arts events but is looking for a more longterm plan as fundraising wraps up.
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Northside Town Hall and Community Center

WILLIAMSBURG — Attention artists: a local cultural center is seeking ideas on how to use a renovated firehouse as a cultural hub for the neighborhood.

Nonprofit Northside Town Hall and Community Center is close to raising $2 million to renovate a former firehouse at 134 Wythe Ave. — something it has been trying to do for five years, said board member Felice Kirby.

Now, the group is reaching out to locals with an online survey in hopes of starting to plan how the space will be used.

With about $1.3 million raised, the board expects to begin renovations in 2016, Kirby said.

"A lot of us who have been here for years have become sensitive to the fact that it's become expensive to create art in the city, especially in north Brooklyn," Kirby said.

"This is a way to put out a call for people who cherish the legacy of small scale, make-it-yourself art, art that speaks to the community, art that's made by people in the community."

The top floor of the firehouse will be used as offices for nonprofits or socially minded start-ups, Kirby said.

But the bottom floor, with its 20-foot ceilings, would be perfect for dance, performance art, theater and radio broadcasting, though the organization is looking for a variety of ideas.

The cultural center would also want to use the space for mass community meetings a couple of times a year, Kirby added.

The space has already hosted sporadic arts events as part of the Arts Happening series. Once the space is complete, such artistic endeavors will become more regular.

"We’re open to whatever people think is the best use that would serve cultural and community simultaneously," Kirby said.

If you're interested in filling out the survey, it can be completed here.