pWATERTOWN — The executive director of the Children’s Home of Jefferson County met on Tuesday with North Side Improvement League officials to give her a pitch on turning the vacant Mill Street clubhouse into a Boys & Girls Club./ppThe Children’s Home would like to expand the nonprofit organization’s Boy & Girls Club to serve younger children on the north side. It already serves older children in a teen center in the back of the Marcy Building on State Street./ppIt was the first time that Children’s Home Executive Director Karen Y. Richmond met with league’s newly-formed board to discuss the offer./pp“It’s whatever we can do to benefit the community,” she said./ppShe did not specify whether the Children’s Home would buy the property, but pointed out that the organization has the ability to renovate the building and take care of any debt the league has incurred./ppThe board took no action./ppBoard President William A. Koelmel stressed the league wants to continue its legacy of distributing scholarships and making the city’s north side better./ppThe league’s board will consider the Boys & Girls Club proposal, he said./pp“We’ve got lots of people interested,” he told her. “It’s a nice piece of property. The building needs work, but it’s sound.”/ppThe board also met with Executive Director Rande S. Richardson about how the Northern New York Community Foundation could help implement a scholarship program or endowment for community projects./ppIn March, the remaining members of the league decided to start marketing the 9,600-square-foot building after they decided not to proceed with a $375,000 deal to swap the property with West Carthage developer Michael E. Lundy. /ppTwo weeks ago, the league retained ownership of the former clubhouse by paying more than $38,000 in back taxes. The building has been vacant since October 2013./p
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