Stissing Center renovation overhaul in the works

PINE PLAINS —  For the Stissing Center (TSC) to move forward as a premier music, arts and cultural center, it’s going to have to get ugly for a few months. Describing a host of renovations currently scheduled to kick off in September, Executive Director Brett Bernardini estimated that the work will take between nine and 12 months, and will include largely fundamental, structural fixes.

TSC’s operational capacity will indeed change significantly during these renovations, but Bernardini described plans already in the works to continue its programming, from hosting offsite events to keeping the laundromat running, and even a faint hope that the building itself will remain usable during portions of the renovations, pending necessary approvals.

While most of those details have been fully outlined, Bernardini emphasized that the exact contours of the renovations, particularly its timeline, are subject to change, owed in part to supply chain difficulties, COVID-19-related industry challenges, and the sorts of delays that can come with any renovation or building project.

As for next steps, Bernardini will go before the Pine Plains Planning Board in May with a comprehensive update. At that point, the board will have a few months to review the plans and make recommendations before the Stissing Center moves forward in September, the kind of collaboration Bernardini portrayed as critical to the organization’s approach to its role within the town.

Bernardini was simultaneously excited by the possibilities opened up by the renovations, and accepting of the degree to which pulling off the Band-Aid is a challenging and somewhat unglamorous necessity.

“The building is going to look terrible, because it will be entirely wrapped ground to roof with scaffolding. But the entire roof has to come off. It cannot be repaired. It’s in such bad shape that we can’t even put gutters up because nails will not stick in what might normally be called wood.”

Once the work is done, Bernardini believes the Stissing Center will have set itself up for years to come. Though the building has three floors and ample space, the organization is currently only able to make use of the main floor in its programming, which, from the perspective of an executive director’s responsibilities, “is like trying to run a business at a third of your capacity.”

In addition to making office space available on-site for a staff that currently works elsewhere, paving a small area for handicap parking, completing the Cellar at the Center (a community space on the ground level with kitchen capacity), and building an add-on that will host an elevator and additional stairs, the fully renovated Stissing Center will include a gallery space, room for more varied event hosting, and a projectionist’s booth to screen films and documentaries.

An intervening step, however, involves funding the overhaul, which comes with a price tag of $3 million, $1 million of which will be allocated to replacing the mansard roof. Previous to Bernardini’s tenure, the Stissing Center had already developed plans and fundraised for many of the renovations that will take place. From that effort three years back, the organization has $1.8 million saved away.

However, in the ensuing years, COVID-19 stymied the organization’s ability to begin work, and the costs associated subsequently ballooned. So, Bernardini has two plans to fill in the gap and raise the necessary funds, the first of which involves a New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) capital grant for $1.2 million that TSC has already applied for and will hear back on in May.

Bernardini’s failsafe is that he plans to raise $1 million this year regardless of the NYSCA grant, and that money that will go to renovations if necessary, and be allocated to other operational and programming needs if not.

“We’re gonna get to the other side, and we will have what we will have the capacity to deliver on what everybody has invested in through their generosity. Then we will be able to bring that to life, and we won’t be fundraising sort of ad nauseam for the next four years. People have been generous, they want results, and we need to deliver those results…. It’s like running a road race. It feels great at the beginning, and as you get closer to the end, you’re like ‘Are we done? Are we done?’ I’m excited to finish because frankly, for us, the finishing of the building really represents the beginning. So I’m excited to get there.”