WCNY to build new broadcast and education center on Near Westside.

View Events Slide Show

WCNY to build new broadcast and education center on Near Westside with support from community partners, foundations and major donors.

WCNY, the Public Broadcasting Council of Central New York, Inc., plans to build a 75,000 square foot, multi-story new broadcast facility at the corner of West and Marcellus Streets that will include television and radio studios, offices and a dedicated 20,000 square foot state of the art education center. The facility will also be the anchor project of the Arts, Technology & Design Quarter of the Near Westside Initiative.

WCNY President and CEO, Robert J. Daino, the driving force behind some major transformational changes at WCNY over the past two years, says: “WCNY could have moved anywhere, but we chose to move to the Near Westside because it is an ideal place to connect to the community. We want to make a genuine difference by relocating to a part of our community that has been facing some difficult challenges and is embarking on an exciting neighborhood revitalization. What better place to build a foundation for the growth of our organization as we pursue our mission to innovate in education, and support technology and the arts?”

Developing a new broadcast and education center is part of WCNY’s commitment to be more ‘connected’ to the community, so much so that the word ‘connected’ is an essential element of the station’s new graphic identity which was launched on September 1.

“A multi-media powerhouse like WCNY is the right organization to be located inside the Near Westside neighborhood,” says Daino. “We are delighted to be working side by side with key community partners on this project. We want to build this facility in the heart of Syracuse to provide greater access for the public to WCNY, but also to help propel community-based dialogue to a new level. We want our building to be a destination, an alternate venue for the public.”

The new WCNY education center will be designed to encourage students to learn by making use of dazzling new technologies and innovative education programs such as “Enterprise America” and “STEM America”. The experience combines an exciting standards-based curriculum taught by teachers in their classrooms which would be followed by a trip to WCNY’s life-size, state-of-the-art city run by students. The goal of the programs will be to apply and reinforce lessons learned in the classroom, in a real-life setting.

Daino says the hands-on programs will support students from K through 16 and give first-hand understanding of how business and government work. The companion “STEM America” program will provide an opportunity to expand their knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math through interaction in 16 laboratories housing various experiments and technologies.

WCNY’s goal is to develop programs which will become national models to help students to expand their educational boundaries with Syracuse being the incubator for these imagination-driven programs.

WCNY will receive funding for this building project from an array of sources. Syracuse University has received approval from the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) and Empire State Development Corporation to reinvest a $13.8 million construction loan repayment SU borrowed from the State in 1987 in the Near Westside Initiative Inc.’s efforts to create the Syracuse Arts, Technology & Design Quarter. SU has committed $2.5 million to the construction of this facility. In addition, the City of Syracuse has announced it will submit a grant application to the State’s Restore New York’s Communities Initiative for an additional $10 million. Four million dollars of that funding will be allocated to help WCNY construct the new facility on a vacant parcel at the corner of West and Marcellus Streets.

“We are absolutely committed to making this project a reality. We are confident foundations and donors will find this exciting opportunity and unique collaboration to revitalize our community, not only complementary to their mission, but simply irresistible,” says Daino. “So far, we are astounded by the amount of support WCNY has already received from the community.”

The Near Westside Initiative Inc., is a non-profit development corporation established by the Rosamond Gifford Foundation to revitalize Syracuse’s Near Westside. It is composed of some of the region’s most experienced economic development professionals; neighborhood residents; and businesses, educational and non-profit leaders from Syracuse, including representatives from Syracuse University, the City of Syracuse, National Grid, Queri Development Corporation, Green and Seifter, Home Headquarters and the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative. The Arts, Technology & Design Quarter within which WCNY will be located, is central to this economic revitalization and urban redevelopment strategy, and is modeled in part on the highly successful Artist Relocation Program in Paducah, KY. The Arts, Technology & Design Quarter is envisioned as an interdisciplinary creative community of residences and workspaces for artists, technologists and innovators arising among former warehouses and commercial structures in three blocks encompassed by West Fayette Street, Wyoming Street, Tully Street and West Street.

“In order to achieve our mission we need to be a growing, passionate service delivery organization. We are committed to the community and becoming increasingly connected in relevant ways,” says Daino. “We want to be the community connection point. We will achieve this goal by locating to the Near Westside and will find ourselves among great neighbors.”