Group to open new community center in Utica

An area nonprofit group has plans to launch a new community center that will offer programs and activities for children through senior citizens.
The Neighborhood Investment Association, Inc. (NIA) calls it the Renaissance Center and the facility - located in the former teamster's building at 7 Rutger Park - should begin offering programs soon, board President Kay Lanaux says.
"It's going to have children's programs and programs for seniors," she says. "It's going to provide a multicultural art and history museum."
The Renaissance Center will also feature an entrepreneurial development center geared toward women and minorities and provide board-room space for in-kind use, she says.
Lanaux declined to disclose any information about NIA's funding.
The center is open not only to inner-city residents but those from all over the city as well as the greater Utica region. Additionally, NIA plans to lease space in the building for other nonprofit organizations and businesses.