Come dream with us...
Imagining the Future of Beacon on Cumberland Street
Beacon from its beginning in 2011 has always sought to be responsive to the needs of our neighborhood. That means our programming has evolved, taking different shapes as we’ve become aware of different needs. This fall finds us in a new season of discerning the different needs of our neighbors, both new and long-term residents. This means we’re looking at our building with a creative eye, dreaming about how we might partner with other like-minded organizations to make our building and yard more welcoming to our whole community as well as being more sustainable now and in to the future. Won’t you dream with us?
community stakeholder meeting ON Wednesday 5/24 @ 7pm
We had an excellent community meeting on May 24, 2017, where we heard input from neighbors and stakeholders, and learned about possibilities that the Community Design Collaborative lifted up. Click on the button to the left to see a pdf of the CDC's presentation, and read on to see what we discussed. Click on the button above to fill out a brief survey about the neighborhood.
POSSIBLE PEER MODELS:
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DiSilvestro Philadelphia Community Health and Literacy Center (1700 S. Broad St)
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Trinity Memorial Church and Trinity PlayGroup (2212 Spruce St)
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Calvary Center for Culture and Community (48th & Baltimore Ave)
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St. Lydia’s in Brooklyn, NY
CURRENT BUILDING CONDITIONS SUMMARY:
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Structurally sound, with strong pillars in place, but could only support a second story of space categorized as “light use”—offices, for example, not program space
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Aging infrastructure systems need updating (HVAC, electrical, masonry)
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Currently lacking in AC and also experiencing masonry-related water damage
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Spaces are large and well configured for meetings and groups of various sizes
common themes of group discussions:
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Green space! How can the yard be more utilized, more public, more welcoming, and maintain it as a safe community space [this came up in every small group conversation]
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Continued programming for neighbors of all ages, prioritizing early education, family-friendly events, and perhaps music events and/or education
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Potential collaborations with Rock to the Future, Greensgrow, childcare or early education, co-working, or children’s healthcare
NEXT STEPS:
We ended our meeting with a framing of what the next steps are—we will continue to gather input from neighbors and community members, and the folks at the Community Design Collaborative will go to work outlining the costs and feasibility of three options:
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Renovating and building on our current building
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Demolition and re-build
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Stabilize and secure current building
At the end of their process, in the early fall, we’ll be hosting another community meeting to share with you and all our neighbors the Community Design Collaborative’s findings and work to figure out what comes next.