A New Home for SENYLRC

After approximately six years of searching for new offices, SENYLRC has finally secured a new facility for its offices and headquarters. A 7,000 square foot, two-level building at 21 South Elting Corners Road in Highland (Town of Lloyd) is now the property of SENYLRC as of September 23, 2004. On that day, a commercial mortgage loan was secured from Rondout Savings Bank with SENYLRC board representatives Jeff Katz, Vice President, Judith McGrath, Immediate Past President, and Executive Director John Shaloiko attending the closing to buy the building from The American Craft Council. This new building is approximately one mile west (towards new Paltz) from our present offices.

The decision to search for a new building began in 1998 when the Board of Trustees, under the direction of Board President Kevin Gallagher, determined that it was in the organization’s best long term financial interests to secure its own building rather than continuing to pay the ever-increasing costs to lease an office building. At that time, a Building Task Force of the board began a feasibility review to construct a new building or purchase an existing building. The Board set an affordability ceiling and a target location -- in relative proximity to the Rts. 87 and 84 corridors.

Exterior from northeast	Exterior from south	Exterior from southwest

After looking at many buildings from Newburgh to Kingston, the focus continued to center around the Highland/New Paltz area. As the Task force searched for existing structures it became a challenge to locate a suitable and affordable building. As time went on, the price of land and construction costs also continued to increase – an average of 12% for new construction, and, after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the purchase price of existing office buildings in the Hudson Valley noticeably increased. Many of the existing buildings that were examined required extensive and costly modifications. As 2004 came around, the possibility of acquiring a new building began to wither. Recognizing this, the board voted this past May to secure a relatively favorable 10-year leasing arrangement to move to Kingston into the Hudson Valley Business Center.

In late May, the American Craft Council, a non-profit organization, decided to consolidate its Highland office with its NYC headquarters and put its 11 year old building up for sale. The asking price was surprisingly within SENYLRC’s range. Within two weeks, the American Craft Council accepted SENYLRC’s purchase offer. The Board approved the transaction pending the ability of SENYLRC to secure a commercial mortgage loan. SENYLRC negotiated with five commercial banks before selecting Rondout Savings Bank – a community-oriented bank that offered a commercial loan amortized over 20 years. The loan rate allows SENYLRC to pay an annual mortgage loan that is approximately ten thousand dollars less than an annual lease of 4,000 square feet (not to mention a minimum of 3% increase in annual leasing costs). And this is for a 7,000 square foot building compared to the 4,000 square foot office SENYLRC has been leasing since 1988! An added value coming with this new building at no additional cost is the inclusion of the existing office cubicles, custom made office desks, two medium size meeting tables, plus of variety of office chairs and some lounge chairs.

Upper level front entrance	Upper level from front entrance	Upper level staff lounge

So what is the layout of this building? There are two levels each with 3,500 square feet. The upper level contains six offices, a reception area, a fully equipped kitchen, a large staff lounge plus two bathrooms (one including a shower). A large workroom in the upper level will be subdivided to include a new room to house SENYLRC’s servers and terminating location for data and phone lines. The remaining area will be the photocopy and workroom area. All the staff will be located upstairs.

The lower level, accessible through a separate lower entrance, is divided into two sections. One 1,750 square foot section contains additional offices and another bathroom. The other similar sized section is presently unfinished. It is our intention over time to create two meeting rooms in this unfinished area – board/committee room and the other a larger place of assembly to accommodate workshops attended by up to 45 people. Two handicapped-accessible bathrooms will be constructed. As it is presently laid out, this lower level provides SENYLRC with several options, including the possibility of leasing 1,000 square feet to another organization.

Lower level hall	Lower level meeting room	Lower level unfinished section

The parking lot presently allows for 24 spaces. SENYLRC has retained the services of Kingston architectural firm Scott Dutton Associates, LLC. This firm already has presented a feasibility study of proposed offices and meeting rooms for SENYLRC plus an expansion of the parking lot. Over time we look to make 21 South Elting Corners Road a facility that will be the pride of the SENYLRC’s Board, staff and ultimately the member libraries and other cultural heritage organizations.

There are many people on the Board of Trustees – both past and present – that need to be recognized for their efforts in making this project a reality. The Building Task Force was chaired by two very capable people – first by Kevin Gallagher of the Middletown Thrall Public Library followed by Stan Ploszaj of the Ramapo Catskill Library System. Over the six years of the Task Force’s existence, a variety of board members participated, including Judith McGrath, May Knapp, Elizabeth Bushey, Mary McTamaney, Stuart Moss, Lynn Denman, Josh Cohen, Mary Ellen Leimer and Susan Staples.

When is move-in date? We are targeting mid November assuming the timely issuance of a building permit by the Town of Lloyd to construct the server room, the painting of the upper level and general cleaning.

Watch for the open house and dedication later in the year. However, once we move in, SENYLRC can immediately accommodate committee and board meetings and smaller CE workshop and computer training sessions.

By John Shaloiko, Executive Director

Southeastern News Online is published bi-monthly by SENYLRC staff.