Poughkeepsie native to reopen vacant youth center with financial boost from city, but more money needed
As L'Quette Taylor showed News 12 the remnants of past youth programs inside the building that has been vacant since 2019, he only saw hope and possibilities.
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The City of Poughkeepsie is giving L'Quette Taylor and local builder Chai Developers $603,000 to restore and reopen the Catharine Street Community Center, the latest project that Taylor, a Poughkeepsie native, is all but guaranteeing to be a long-term success.
The money is coming through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant the city won from the state.
As he showed News 12 the remnants of past youth programs inside the building that has been vacant since 2019, he only saw hope and possibilities. Taylor used to come to the center when he was young.
"I did some school work here," he said, standing in a large downstairs room he hopes to make a versatile space for sports and special events. "Right there, you can still see the pencil sharpener."
As the CEO of Community Matters 2, a nonprofit that holds youth programs in a building adjacent to the Catharine Street building, Taylor said the additional space would allow him to serve more young people.
For example, with just his current space on North Hamilton Street, Taylor's summer camps serve up to 150 children at once, adding the Catharine Street space would allow the camps to serve 450.
"I'm from here. It's not like I'm just trying to do a project," Taylor said. "It's really about understanding the issues with the community, what we need, and I just feel like this right here can impact a lot of people."
Other recent plans like 'The YOU,' a grand vision to turn the city's vacant, crumbling YMCA property on Montgomery Street into a giant complex meant just for young people, fell through.
Poughkeepsie High School junior Justin Lebon has been an advocate for the various youth-oriented projects, including The YOU.
He said many of his peers rely on youth programs to find out their talents and passions, and they have been missing out ever since the Catharine Street center shut down because repairs were becoming too expensive.
"Everyone in general needs (deserves) a chance to figure out what they want to do in life," he said. "You need the opportunities first. You know what I mean? If you don't get the opportunities, you'll never figure out what you want to do."
The $603,000 the city is providing is meant simply to renovate and reopen the center.
Taylor said he has been looking into public and private grants to establish consistent funding to operate the center, which would require several hundred thousand dollars each year.
"We are in the midst of a capital campaign," Taylor said, "to make sure that when this actually opens, we actually give our community the best."
Taylor said that if the process goes smoothly, the center could reopen as early as late 2027.
The Catharine Street youth center project is one of several projects the city is helping fund through the downtown revitalization grant.
Taylor said he's now collecting public input, and then he and his advisory board will finalize a design. He also plans to rent out the center as an event space to help fund operations.
