Roberts: “win for comunity and
every student”
KINGSTON – Kingston has a brand new SUNY Ulster campus, at the
former Sofie Finn elementary school. Officials cut the ribbon outside
the community college satellite school Tuesday morning.
The transformation is the crowning jewel for Ulster County’s STRIVE
initiative, which revitalizes the neighborhood while streamlining local
resources.
The $7.8 million project took three years, from inception to ribbon cutting
on Tuesday. Featured in the reconstruction are 130 additional parking
spots, green infrastructure, and a new entrance vestibule.
“This was slated to become a vacant boarded-up building in Midtown
Kingston,” said County Executive Michael Hein, who first proposed
STRIVE in June 2012. “That’s what it could have been,”
he said.
Hein said having a college campus 100 yards away from Kingston High School
provides opportunity for inner-city youth, adults, and police cadets.
“It will become a gem right here in the heart of the city for everyone,”
he said.
Officials cut the ribbon on the new SUNY Ulster Kingston campus
“It’s a win for the community and every student walking up
this path to get into this building,” said SUNY Ulster’s newly
appointed president, Dr. Alan Roberts.
Jonathan Drapkin, president of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, called
Hein a visionary, noting STRIVE’s benefit to the city’s student
population. “Hope is an extraordinary thing to create for young
people in a very difficult time; that’s a special thing,”
he said.
Classes begin next week.
.
