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NEWS
Star News - Saturday, January 10th:
Here Now - Garage could be arts center by 2011
Dream Executive Director Tracy Wilkes (left) and board member Kevin Hicks are seen in front the old city garage at 10th and Fanning on Jan. 8, 2010. Dreams of Wilmington has raised $620,000 toward the $750,000 goal for the first phase of renovating an old city garage to become the nonprofit's new home.
By Si Cantwell
Si.Cantwell@StarNewsOnline.com
It will be a dream come true for the Dreams Center for Arts Education: having a building of its own.
And it’s almost there. Dreams has raised most of the money it needs to begin renovating an old city garage on the Northside.
Yasmin Tomkinson, chairwoman of the Dreams board, said local banker Kevin Hicks is one of the big reasons the dream is coming true.
Dreams hopes to start work on the 1939 building near 10th and Fanning streets in April and to be occupying the space a year from now. It will use the 12,000 square feet for dance, performing arts, pottery, painting, music and other art forms.
There will be a large area for performances and meetings. Movable floor-to-ceiling walls and a raised floor will ensure flexibility in how the rooms are used.
There will be conference space for neighborhood functions and a low-cost performance venue that other nonprofits can use.
Dreams is now headquartered in a building that also houses a Spanish-language church, Templo Adoracion y Alabanza. Dreams has outgrown that space.
The organization was founded in 1996 to offer top-notch arts programs free of charge to economically deprived students. Today it operates 55 classes a week in 16 locations, serving around 500 students.
Classes are housed in the Dreams Center, in public housing developments and city recreation sites, in five Pender County middle schools, at Lake Forest Academy in Wilmington and at Communities in Schools of Cape Fear.
Tracy Wilkes, executive director of Dreams, said fundraising for the move started a year ago.
Dreams estimates it will take $950,000 to complete the renovations. It set $750,000 as the target for the first phase. As of Thursday, it had raised $622,701.60, leaving it less than $130,000 away from its initial goal.
The nonprofit was pleased when the city made the old garage available for $1 a year. Many Dreams students live near the location.
Hicks, an RBC Bank manager and Dreams board member, said the site seems ideal.
“When we started looking, we had a lot of suggestions about where we could go, but we wanted to be in the neighborhood and be community based,” Hicks said.
“To be there is to make it better,” Wilkes said of the neighborhood. “Dreams is about reclaiming, whether it’s children’s lives or a building.”
Hicks is treasurer of Dreams and heads up its facilities committee.
Board Chairwoman Yasmin Tomkinson credits him with helping the nonprofit through its growing pains.
“He has really overhauled all the financial systems,” she said. “Dreams started out as this scrappy little organization. Through his critical eye, he’s making the financial systems more user-friendly.”
Hicks said he learned about Dreams from Tara Tatum, a former Leadership Wilmington classmate, about five years ago.
“When you see what these kids go through, most don’t even have hope,” he said. “If you see what the Dreams staff can do with one kid, and know they’re turning kids away for no space or because the facility is inadequate …”
Hicks is proud that all of the graduates of the Dreams program also graduate from high school, and nearly all go to college.
“He’s a good example of business people in our community taking the idea of giving back very seriously,” Wilkes said. “That’s where the rubber meets the road.”
Contact Si Cantwell at 343-2364 or Si.Cantwell@StarNewsOnline.com, or follow him on Twitter.com: @SiCantwell.
Dreaming Big... Our Growing Program Finds a New Home
Dear Friends,
DREAMS has the opportunity of a lifetime...and we couldn’t wait to share it with you.
We’ve come a long way in 12 years! Our dream of becoming a first-class youth development arts program was realized in 2007 when we received the Coming Up Taller Award, the nation’s highest honor in arts and humanities youth programming.
Here we are in 2009, a top-notch, vibrant and successful program—but there is something sorely missing...a great space that reflects the excellence of what we have to offer. Last summer, DREAMS had to turn away many children in need, simply because we had run out of room. It was clear to all of us—teaching artists, youth, parents, volunteers and staff alike— that DREAMS needed a new home.
Fortunately, the City of Wilmington has generously provided a wonderful solution to our situation. It has offered to lease a 12,800-square-foot, 1930s-era parking garage to DREAMS for $1/ year! The building, on the corner of 10th and Fanning, is in the heart of the city’s North Side, an area with the highest concentration of children that need DREAMS the most.
This renovation will allow DREAMS to double our enrollment at the Center from 75 to 150 students per week. It will also act as an important demonstration project, spearheading the revitalization of the North Side, improving economic development and decreasing the costs and risks associated with juvenile delinquency and crime.
Our team of professional architects and contractors have estimated the total cost of the renovation at just under $950,000. We have raised over $605,000 in commitments through the generosity of the City of Wilmington, private foundations,
corporate support, and individuals. Phase I (classrooms, art studios and office space) will cost approximately $750,000. The good news: We are just $145,000 away from that goal. The rub: It is essential for us to raise this sum by April 1, 2010, when we will begin the renovation—and we are determined to reach our goal!
We plan to open the doors to our amazing new home in January of 2011, and begin working on Phase II—a community meeting and performance space.
It is our deepest hope that the completion of this project will make a lasting and meaningful contribution—not only to the lives of so many children, but to the future of an entire community.
Warmest Regards,
Tracy Wilkes
Executive Director
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