Dutchess comptroller says plans for coveted Poughkeepsie youth center have stalled
Several city residents told News 12 Friday they have seen the site devolve into an eyesore, and local drug addicts have taken up residence under thick, untrimmed vegetation on the 3-acre property.
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Dutchess County's grand vision for a much-needed youth center in downtown Poughkeepsie with a pool, theater and rock-climbing wall is hanging in the balance.
The county's plan to replace the old YMCA building on Montgomery Street with a Youth Opportunity Union, aka 'The YOU,' has apparently stalled, according to a report released Thursday by the county comptroller.
Several city residents told News 12 Friday they have seen the site devolve into an eyesore, and local drug addicts have taken up residence under thick, untrimmed vegetation on the 3-acre property.
"They kind of go behind this gate here," neighbor Alycia Grier said, "and those are the only people I see populate the area."
After examining various data relating to the project, County Comptroller Dan Aymar-Blair concluded in his report that the numbers are not adding up and the project has stalled.
The vision first came about in 2020 after an outcry from residents about the well-being of the city's young people and complaints the county put too much attention on other projects like the nearby county jail project.
Then-County Executive Marc Molinaro pledged $25 million to the project, which seemed to start positively.
The county bought the YMCA property from the city for $10.
The county then paid $4.49 million to cover the building's demolition and the design of The YOU based on community input.
Early cost estimates for the project, though, started at more than $100 million.
After downsizing the project, some estimates were as low as $40 million, still an amount that county officials told the county Legislature last year was too high.
The demolition and design costs were covered by funds from the COVID-19-era American Rescue Plan.
Aymar-Blair said in a Zoom interview Friday the county may end up wasting the $4.49 million it already spent on the project.
"We have nothing to show for it," he said. "Promises were made to the city of Poughkeepsie, and those promises weren't kept."
Current County Executive Sue Serino said the project may be stalled, but certainly not dead, adding that supply chain issues, increasing prices for materials and changes in county and city staff over the last five years have set the project back.
She said the county is still seeking government grants and that she must be deliberate in her upcoming decisions to keep the project viable.
"[We are] making sure we're making the right fiscal decisions," she said in a Zoom interview, "making sure we're covering all the bases with the youth, and then applying for the grants."
Poughkeepsie Mayor Yvonne Flowers told News 12 Friday
"I found it disheartening that there are plans not to move forward with the YOU, another broken promise to the City of Poughkeepsie," she said, noting that "the county found ways to overcome any financial barriers when they invested $25 million in Dutchess Stadium, millions to expand the jail in Poughkeepsie, and the purchase of Camp Nooteeming" in Pleasant Valley.
Former County Executive Marc Molinaro said Aymar-Blair's report was politically motivated, as he has an election later this year.
Molinaro also said, though the project might be further downsized, the plans are not canceled.
"This doesn't mean the project won't move forward," he said over the phone Friday afternoon. "It just means the executive and other still have to identify revenue sources to make this a project they can deliver on."
Aymar-Blair said county officials have also neglected other responsibilities they agreed to handle when the county took over the building.
He pointed out in the report that the full $25 million pledge was not fully appropriated by the county Legislature and the county failed to keep the property out of disrepair.
Banners on the fence surrounding the site that local children helped design cost the county $26,000, Aymar said.
Many of those banners are now either vandalized or on the ground.
