Some progress made this summer toward turning Ackerson Building into Community Center

Discussions of a possible Community Center located in the School District’s now-empty Nellie Ackerson Building are moving forward. Multiple meetings were held this summer with representatives from the School District, the Village of Manchester and the Community Resource Center. A public meeting on this topic is being held in conjunction with the next meeting of the Manchester Area Non-Profit Round Table on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 7 pm.

Instead of the Village Room, where Non-profit Round Table meetings are usually held, the meeting will be held in the Board Room of the Ackerson Building itself. This change of venue will allow for touring of the building and reviewing of rooms available. Park in the lot on the north side of the building, enter the double doors (most recently the MECC entrance), and follow the signs to the Board Room.

According to a summary of the July meeting of stakeholders involved in this project, all parties agree that converting the Ackerson building into a community center will be a multi-phase project which will move forward as resources permit, that the “newer” west side of building where the boiler and air conditioning work will be the part of the building used first, and that the Community Resource Center will be first occupant in the Community Center.

The estimated cost of keeping the Ackerson building open presented at the July meeting was $3,800/month. The Community Center will have to generate annual income to meet these overhead costs in addition to renovations that will need to be done to maintain the building and accommodate the needs of tenants. While some of the needed income could come from rent, the Community Resource Center has plans to open “Worth Repeating 2,” a consignment shop in the Ackerson building, that could help off-set some of these costs. However, everyone involved recognized the need for some sort of outside financial support.

“The Manchester Community School Board stands ready to provide this building for our community’s use,” Community Resource Center board member and organizer of the Non-Profit Roundtable, Anita Herman, stated. “We need your expertise and energy. Let’s make this Community Center happen! See you on the 18th!”

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.