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A vinyl banner naming the new Tipperary Hill Community Center, along with a collection of blue and green balloons, adorned the former Boys and Girls Club on the Westside of Syracuse Wednesday morning.

The grand opening event celebrated the new 201 Hamilton St. center that community members Nicole and Travis Doty now own. The center has primarily been an athletics facility in past years, but Nicole Doty said she envisions it being a safe space with wider-ranging programming and resources for youth and adults.

Nicole Doty said because she grew up playing and coaching sports, and because her children played basketball through the organization, the decision to invest in buying and developing the old Boys and Girls Club was a natural one.

“Every time we were here, we noticed that it just wasn’t utilized enough,” said Nicole Doty, the executive director of the new center. “The gyms were utilized, but there were classrooms and there was so much more in the building and the area that we really could make use of.”

There are a number of sports programs currently running at the center — like ED23Hoops, a basketball training program founded and led by former Syracuse University basketball players Eric Devendorf and Mookie Jones — but Nicole Doty said she wants to expand to offer more academic resources and programs given the center’s proximity to Syracuse City School District schools.

She said she and Travis Doty hope to create designated areas for music, arts and theater, as well as a computer lab for tutoring and homework help. She added she hopes that there will be space within the center to provide hot meals to people who need food and that buses can bring youths to sporting events and college campus tours from the bus stop across the street.

THCC will operate under guiding principles to help youth in Syracuse grow into the best versions of themselves, according to a press release. Syracuse has the highest child poverty rate of U.S. cities with at least 100,000 people, according to United States Census Bureau data from 2020, with a poverty rate of 48.4% for children under age 18.

“By teaching (youth) our core values, Equality, Diversity, Perseverance, Teamwork, and Confidence, the hope of the THCC team is to help them become leaders and positive contributors to our community,” the press release read.

Photo Courtesy of Tipperary Hill Community Center

Travis Doty said they have a five-phase plan which includes creating four additional nearby locations. Nicole Doty said they recognized the community’s demand for increased activity space and have plans to renovate another property at 210 Hamilton St. they have already purchased.

“We feel that acquiring that building and rehabbing that will give us more space that we need to be able to offer the services we plan on offering,” Travis Doty said.

Nicole and Travis Doty said their campaign “Re-imagining the Westside: Commitment to Community” aims to raise $2 million to complete the improvements they hope to make to THCC properties.

Nicole Doty said she hopes THCC will gain local partners in the process of garnering funding from community organizations. She said a group like the Food Bank of Central New York could provide food to the center.

“We know the key to running a community center in a place like this is to be able to partner up and work with the entire community,” Nicole Doty said. “We can’t do it alone.”

The Dotys joined community members in cutting a ceremonial green ribbon at the end of the ceremony to mark the opening of the center.

“Today is a great day for the start of our community center, but I think it’s an even better day for a lot of the youth and people that I believe this place will have the opportunity to impact,” Travis Doty said.

Published on November 3, 2022 at 1:11 am

Contact Emily: emilyrosesteinberger@gmail.com | @madlehead