Binghamton Buys Church Recreation Center for Youth Programs

A downtown Binghamton church has sold its recreation center to the city.

The Hawley Street facility owned by St. Mary of the Assumption Church for years had been viewed as a potential site for city-operated youth programs.

City Council in July voted to approve the purchase of the rec center for $500,000. Mayor Jared Kraham and an attorney representing the church signed the documents finalizing the sale Tuesday afternoon.

Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham and attorney Carmen Garufi shook hands after signing sale documents at St. Mary's Recreation Center on September 24, 2024. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

The 14,000-square-foot building, which was constructed in 1965, is located just east of Columbus Park.

Binghamton officials had been planning to develop a youth and community center at the park but that idea was scrapped because it would have been too costly.

The basketball court at St. Mary's Recreation Center in downtown Binghamton on May 24, 2022. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

The city is using $1 million in federal funds to buy the property and to renovate the complex..

Kraham said work is needed on the building's roof and its heating and ventilation system. New windows will be installed and some electrical upgrades will be made before the city starts using the facility.

A classroom at St. Mary's Recreation Center. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.

LOOK: Food history from the year you were born

From product innovations to major recalls, Stacker researched what happened in food history every year since 1921, according to news and government sources.

Gallery Credit: Joni Sweet

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

Gallery Credit: Angela Underwood

50 Most Popular Chain Restaurants in America

YouGov investigated the most popular dining brands in the country, and Stacker compiled the list to give readers context on the findings. Read on to look through America's vast and divergent variety of restaurants—maybe you'll even find a favorite or two.

Gallery Credit: Paul Feinstein

Source: Binghamton Buys Church Recreation Center for Youth Programs