Lyndonville Foundation makes final payment towards school auditorium
Provided photo: The Lyndonville Area Foundation presented its final payment today towards the Stroyan Auditorium. Pictured from left include: Darren D. Wilson, president of the Lyndonville Area Foundation; Douglas Hedges, Foundation treasurer; and Jason Smith, superintendent of Lyndonville Central School District.
Organization paid $361K over 20 years for Foundation’s biggest commitment in its history
LYNDONVILLE – This morning the Lyndonville Area Foundation was proud to present its final payment on Lyndonville Central School’s Stroyan Auditorium.
This payment represents a 20-year capstone on an agreement begun in 1998 by then-school superintendent, the late Richard Pucher, and the Lyndonville Area Foundation.
The agreement reached at that time called for 20 consecutive annual payments to the school district by the Foundation representing the public portion cost of the auditorium’s construction. The public portion would have been the amount taxpayers of the school district were responsible for if the Lyndonville Area Foundation had chosen not to cover this cost.
“At that time, the Foundation had recently benefitted from a substantial bequest by the estate of the late Mabel Stroyan, a life-long Lyndonville resident,” said Darren D. Wilson, the Foundation’s current president, “It was her bequest that enabled the Foundation to fund the public portion of this project – a cost that eventually exceeded $361,000.”
The commitment to the auditorium is the largest contribution since the Foundation started in 1967.
“As the mission of the Foundation is to provide for cultural, educational and civic projects within Lyndonville and the Town of Yates, the Stroyan Auditorium was a perfect fit,” said Doug Hedges, the Foundation’s treasurer.
Hedges and Wilson praised the “enormous generosity, gifting and legacy to the Foundation by individuals such as the late Mable Stroyan that make this all possible.”
Now that the 20-year commitment has been met for the auditorium, the Foundation has more flexibility for funding other initiatives in the community.
“While this final payment is a milestone for us, it also eases the Foundation’s annual obligations to allow for the possible consideration towards even more projects in the future,” Wilson said.
