Civic Ambassadors Funding Facts Vol. 6

Each week, the Civic Ambassadors at Bard follow and report on a new topic surrounding local and state funding. This week's funding fact:  

The Youth Opportunity Union—a program that focuses on both mental and physical recreational, educational, and healthy opportunities of children from infancy to young adulthood—is moving forward with the plan to build its own countywide facility in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County. After having gone through many delays and revisions since this vision began under the former Dutchess County Executive Mark Molinaro, the current plan is coming closer to development after the scale-down, according to Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino. 

Initially, the construction cost of this facility was estimated to be around $150 million. Considering how reliant the earlier proposal is on private or other public funding to cover a majority of construction costs, the current Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino took it upon her to have “open and honest conversations” with those involved in the planning process in an effort to come up with a more realistic and achievable plan, construction costs, funding options and ongoing operational costs. 

In 2023, this project was scaled-down and is estimated to cost “a little over $70 million.” Depending on whether the county is awarded the $15 million from New York Bricks Grant by the end of 2025, the aforementioned latest plan’s construction could begin in 2027 and possibly be opened by the end of 2028. 

Post Date: 11-07-2025