For nearly five years, the old Colonie Youth Center at 5 1st Ave. has been a dilapidated eyesore, a hollow shell filled only with memories of its vibrant days when it was bustling with the town’s youngest residents.
Michael Caruso was, at one time, one of those energetic youngsters. He has fond memories still trapped within the long abandoned building and said its deterioration always pained him.
So, when his former teacher, Michael Patrizio, told him about his dream for a multipurpose arts center, Caruso jumped on board.
“The biggest thing that sparked me was I grew up in the building. I spent probably all of my youth right into my teenage years in the building,” said Caruso. “I had an attachment to the building from my childhood; great memories, great friends.”
Now, Caruso is poised to make a slate of new memories with the grand opening of The Patrizio Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 9.
In less than a year, the building was gutted and remodeled to create a 6,200-square-foot creative hub that boasts a recording studio, dance studio, kitchen for cooking classes and a multipurpose room for exercise classes or art classes.
“The goal was to put all the arts under one roof so no longer people would be going all over town for all the different things,” said Patrizio.
The center is Patrizio’s dream come true, but getting it off the ground was far from a fairy tale. It took years of door slamming and head beating and Patrizio said were it not for a visit from Caruso who had been his student in the ‘70s, it surely wouldn’t have happened so fast.
“He took a lot of pride in doing a lot of the construction here, cashed in a lot of favors with his construction friends to get the job done quickly and accurately and as perfectly as possible,” said Patrizio.
In fact, his own wife didn’t think The Patrizio Center for the Arts would ever exist.
“My wife … recently said, ‘I never dreamed this would ever really happen. I just thought you were a crazy old guy,’ but now it’s here,” said Patrizio. “(Caruso) visited my house in late October and within 10 days it had a new roof already put on.”
Patrizio’s vision is broad, yet quite simple.
He wants the center to be the community’s one-stop shop for everything art, so he built six rooms to be used for music lessons; a recording studio; a retail store; a kitchen for cooking classes; a multipurpose room for art classes or exercise classes like Zumba; and a dance studio with ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop classes already lined up.
Patrizio is so confident in the building’s success that he’s already planning a “phase two” to make the center even bigger.
Caruso, too, predicts the community will flock to the new site.
“I think it’s something that every community needs,” said Caruso. “Most importantly, we took a building that was dilapidated and ruined and brought it back to life, enhanced the neighborhood, enhanced the community and is offering incredible programs and a place for children to come and do productive things.”
A full list of programs and events is listed online at patrizioarts.com and the summer menu is already full. There will be a figure drawing class, art class for children and a fashion design program.
There will also be plenty of dancing. Carla Schlist had Patrizio as a teacher during one of his 37 years with the North Colonie Central School District. He asked her if she’d teach non-competitive dance classes and she said “yes.”
“I’m thrilled to be getting back into it again because (dance) is definitely my first passion,” said Schlist.
Schlist will be teaching pre-ballet, pre-tap, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and special classes like “Mommy and Me,” creative dance and princess dance. Dancers age 2 and up can register and the classes are broken up into summer and dance programs.
The summer classes start the week of July 9 and fall classes start in September. Registration information is available online.
Schlist said she was happy to help make Patrizio’s dream come true because it also allowed her to fulfill one of her own.
“I know it’s been a dream of his for several years and it’s been a dream of mine to be able to run a dance studio such as this,” said Schlist. “I’m really excited about it. I really feel like it’s something that will truly enrich both children and adults in the area.”
The arts center is for the community, so Patrizio said he wants residents to feel like it’s theirs. To that end, anybody with an idea for a class or event is welcome to run it by him.
“Anything goes. Put together a class or program and if it fits in my building we’ll have that class here,” said Patrizio.
For more information, visit www.patrizioarts.com.
