More Than a Building: Yates Illuminates is Empowered by People
By Leo Adam Biga
better together
Image used by the Yates Illuminates team throughout their campaign to preserve the historic building and its programming.
A graphic reminder that a building is more than brick and mortar came during a November 16 Omaha Public Schools Board of Education meeting that decided the fate of the former Yates Elementary School at 3260 Davenport Street.
The 6-1 vote to sell Yates to a local nonprofit interest group over a Colorado developer represented a major win for the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA), whose Save Yates for Omaha campaign enlisted considerable community support. Despite the fact the Omaha group only offered $100,000 for the building versus the developer’s $630,000, the board went with the local, smaller bid.
“We are thrilled and still a bit in disbelief,” said Adrian Petrescu, who with his wife Marie Hélène Andre’s are two of GPNA’s most vocal and visible leaders. They have a passion for supporting the aspirations of immigrants, which they happen to be themselves.
Their group secured a buyer for the building and raised in excess of $1 million in community pledges for the site’s estimated $1.5 million rehab.
The couple put faith in the democratic process for their case for Yates to be heard by elected representatives. Board members heeding the wishes of constituents, Petrescu said, is “how it’s supposed to work.” Winning the vote, Andre said, “sends the message, yes, it’s possible to win a fight like this, but you have to find the right people and you have to have a realistic vision.”
The more than century-old brick building, whose namesake comes from early Omaha business and civic leader Henry Yates, housed an elementary school for most of its life. It then became an alternative school. For the last decade the structure hosted programs for refugees and immigrants, as the district serves a sizable population of students and families for whom English is a second language. The programs were offered as part of the OPS-led Yates Educational Community Partnership.
At one point OPS wanted to raze the building, which needs considerable repairs and renovations, for construction of a new school on the site. The district scuttled those plans in response to neighborhood opposition but did move the programs offered there to the TAC building at 3215 Cuming Street. Those programs have been delivered remotely during the pandemic.
More recently, OPS declared the structure as surplus and commissioned Investors Realty to list the property with the stipulation that its buyer implement an educational component.
The Gifford group began seeking allies and advocates in a quest to obtain the building and reactivate it as a community center for underserved minorities. The 30,000 square foot structure offers existing classrooms, offices and multi-purpose spaces, a commercial kitchen and an auditorium with a stage. Restoring Dignity executive director Hannah Wyble points out it also offers strong emotional ties and memories for clients served there.
save-d yates
Adrian Petrescu happily adds a “D” to their Save Yates yard sign after a long journey to this big win for the community.
Image credit: Adrian Petrescu
“When you say ‘Yates’ everybody knows what you’re talking about in the refugee and immigrant community because it has benefited so many people from that community,” said Wyble, whose nonprofit works with that population. “We want to keep alive the spirit that there’s one destination where people can come and get the services they need in an environment that is conflict-free and inclusive. It’s a safe place, people know about it. It’s been around for a long time.”
Familiarity begets comfort and convenience. “People love the building because it’s old and welcoming.” Andre said, “It’s really ideally located, too.”
Yates has direct access to crosstown thoroughfares in Dodge Street and 30th Street as well as to the interstate. It’s close to the TAC Center, Ducshene Academy, Creighton University, healthcare facilities, social service agencies and North Downtown. The new rapid bus system, ORBT, has a station there. The campaign gained momentum when the local Weitz Family Foundation joined as facilitator and convener.
“The neighborhood association had reached out to our executive director Katie Weitz and she really fell in love with the project and their vision for what they wanted to do with the building,” said foundation operations director Kaitlan McDermott.
The foundation was a natural for the group to enlist in its Save Yates effort since WFF funds local nonprofits that do social justice work, including several organizations that ended up becoming part of the campaign. Visioning sessions led to the creation of Yates Illuminates LLC, a curated coalition of nonprofit partners committed to delivering adult education and employment services and fostering community at the site.
Community leaders celebrate moments after the OPS board voted in favor of Yates Illuminates. Image credit: Adrian Petrescu
“We really like to help people self-determine and with this project we listened to what the neighborhood said it wanted for the community and we convened nonprofits for them to develop a shared vision together,” McDermott said.
“We had all these great ideas, but we needed an umbrella organization that would help us put that in words,” Andre said, “Weitz Family Foundation really helped put all our ideas into a proposal for making a viable offer.”
“Dozens of agencies, some who are still involved and some who moved on, participated in visioning sessions with Deb Bunting from Debzart Consulting,” Katie Weitz said. “Not only that but small and emerging businesses participating in the REACH program with the Chamber of Commerce came to Yates to put bids and estimates together for what it will take to move the project forward. We met with so many government agencies and officials. Easily over a hundred people had a hand in this project.”
Through the process of building a base and vision for the project, the foundation found itself working with more players than it usually does because that’s what this collaborative demanded.
Metropolitan Community College is among the committed partners projected as anchor tenants. Others include Refugee Empowerment Center, Restoring Dignity, Learning for All, D2 Center and Great Plains Theater Commons. Endorsements for Yates Illuminates came from major community stakeholders such as the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
“I’ve seen or facilitated many community projects but nothing as nicely crafted as this one with its fantastic synergy potential. What is there is only a beginning,’ Petrescu said, “Bringing creative, dedicated folks together in a place where they all meet and run ideas by each other is what this can be and will be. Gifford Park is already that. Yates Illuminates will be that made a thousand fold.”
Wyble sees the planned Yates Community Center as realizing a long-held community dream.
“We’ve been pushing for a refugee resource center for years.
There’s a need to have one place where people can come to get household items and go to ESL classes and can get casework support because right now all of these agencies are spread all across Omaha with different hours of operation. It’s going to allow us to reach more people, it’s going to be more accessible, it’s going to allow us to work with other organizations better.”
Learning for All is another coalition partner eager to get into Yates. “This is a unique opportunity for our city to house a collective of organizations dedicated to the mission of service. We see tremendous value in collaborating with these partners and feel the project's success will come from everyone's ability to contribute their collective strengths and services,” said executive director John Nania. His nonprofit provides ESL, Adult Basic Education, GED and life skills training.
The hard work that went into building the coalition, articulating the vision and waging the campaign still didn’t guarantee success. Different iterations of the proposal were shared with OPS, whose administration eventually recommended a competing plan by Elkco Properties of Colorado to convert the property into a senior living center with a community room and garden.
The leverage Weitz wielded made a difference in getting the Save Yates effort taken seriously.
“We feel we got heard more with the Weitz Foundation than before their involvement,” said Petrescu.
Andre added, “We really needed somebody with a name who is recognized to help us carry our vision. The Weitz Family Foundation really carried the project without being in the spotlight. They did a lot for the connections, enlisting the Chamber of Commerce, and finding the money. You have to have a good vision and you have to have allies. But it’s also a a matter of being bold and going for it.”
Foundation operations director Kaitlan McDermott found GPNA one determined, community-minded bunch.
Marie Hélène’s Andre happily standing in front of the historic Yates building in Gifford Park.
Image credit: Adrian Petrescu
“They’re very mindful of what needs exist and how they can be helping different populations within their neighborhood. If every neighborhood association could be like Gifford Park I think our community at large would be a different place.”
The disposition of Yates ultimately rested on the school board, which twice previously tabled scheduled votes on the matter. Yates Illuminates supporters turned out to testify for the proposal at several school board meetings. Thus, a classic showdown of opposing forces unfolded that pitted local public interests versus outstate private interests in the form of a neighborhood community plan in direct competition with a speculative corporate plan. Champions of Yates Illuminates made impassioned pleas online and in person but struggled gauging if the effort had support from a majority of the school board.
Feelings ran high Nov. 16 when no one seconded a motion to approve the Elkco bid but the motion to approve the Yates Illuminates bid was seconded, followed by the 6-1 vote that defied the district administration’s recommendation.
Yates Illuminates supporters describe the decision as a victory for grassroots community concerns over corporate interests.
Board member Amanda Ryan, who proposed the motion to accept the Yates Illuminates bid, said, “I one-hundred percent believe this vote was a win for the community over money.”
“I am thrilled. My heart is soaring,” Katie Weitz said after the vote. “For me, this means the community, nonprofits and education institutions that were willing to dream big will have the opportunity to build their vision. Omaha Public Schools gets it. They are investing their assets in a proposal that furthers their mission as well because they understood the long-term value. They didn't act like most political types seeing only the short-term gain of a few extra dollars. They heard their constituents. They listened to the new Americans and long-time neighbors, and they chose to empower the community.“
“I think in order to create the communities we want and to advocate best for what communities need we can’t keep looking at the offer that is the highest financial dollar,” McDermott said. “If we want to advocate for what the community needs, we have to listen to what the community wants.”
Board member Kimara Zuri Snipes, who voted for Yates Illuminates, said, “This was a win for taxpayers, community organizations, the Gifford Park neighborhood and the non-profit public service functions of this historic property.” Though impressed by the coalition of nonprofit partners and advocates, she was mostly won over by the vision. “As president of a nonprofit (South Omaha Neighborhood Association) focused on enhancing neighborhoods, I recognize the value of this project.”
Ryan said she found the Yates Illuminates vision “definitely impressive with its wide array of community partners from different sectors of the city, but the plan wasn't the deciding factor for me.” As the descendant of immigrant elders who toiled as migrant workers and as a public servant who’s campaigned for immigrant-refugee rights, her support was personal.
MCC College of Continuing Education dean Gary Girard shares the sentiment of many in embracing the project’s “collaborative of entities housed under one roof,” he said. “We feel we can really maximize our collaboration with them to realize a true community equalizer. Together, we think we can help develop a world class center for diversity, equity and inclusion that reaches out to the community to equalize the resources and help put people out of poverty.”
D2 Center co-executive director Greg Emmel sees promise in the collaborative opportunities the center will afford. “Its focus on education, employment and community absolutely aligns with our mission to connect out-of-school and disengaged youth ages 15 to 21 into an educational pathway with other resources and supports needed to earn a high school diploma and prepare for post-secondary opportunities and a career.”
Culture and identity are central markers for new citizens and Yates Illuminates partner Great Plains Theatre Commons is eager to cultivate and share their experiences.
“The partnership with Yates Illuminates fits beautifully into our mission to strengthen community through the creation and sharing of diverse new stories,” said GPTC community connector Ellen Struve. “We have already had discussions about future collaborations with the Refugee Empowerment Center and look forward to engaging with all our new neighbors in exploring the ways we can use our skills and connections to support their missions. As an artist (playwright) who has worked with the Yates community and Gifford Park Neighborhood Association, I can't imagine a better place to be. Gathering and story sharing are at the heart of our practice and the fact there is a cafeteria-gymnasium-theater in the heart of this building creates a wealth of opportunities where we can celebrate one another's stories. We can't wait to move in and start listening to our neighbors.”
Metro envisions its own participation in the project as an extension of its community development model in which the college operates learning hubs in community spaces (New North Makerhood, Highlander, Do Space). It’s part of MCC’s “strategy to help communities develop and address disparities,” said Girard. “This is another part of that community development model. It’s another unique sector of the community we can serve.”
Adrian Petrescu gathering signatures for the campaign to save the Yates building and its programming for immigrant and refugee families. Image credit: Adrian Petrescu
WFF’s Kaitlan McDermott views Metro as a “core anchor” for the Yates project because of the resources and stakeholders it brings. “They’re able to host a lot of programming that furthers the mission of these other groups.” Plus, Metro’s role as a major learning institution goes a long way to satisfying the educational condition OPS placed on the Yates property.
The college plans to offer adult basic education, GED and career exploration services, along with College for Kids-Teens programs featuring weekend STEM-STEAM learning activities, there. “We’ll expand our senior explorer program for 55-plus there,” Girard said.” We really want to provide a focus on equity and inclusion and collaborate with these other entities to build on that element. We’re also planning on having a significant sustainability effort at that location with its existing outdoor raised gardens and building pollinator gardens and aviaries.”
“Much like the other sites we have in the community, once we’re there and we understand the community we can be pretty fluid in terms of our course offerings. So what we’re planning to offer right now will certainly evolve.”
Now that the hope of saving Yates has been achieved, the tasks of formalizing relationships, forming a board, hiring a building director and scheduling-overseeing repairs begins. The project marks the first time the Weitz Family Foundation is involved in the ownership and management of a building,
As for a timeline, Andre said, “There are immediate repairs that need to be done and there are others that can wait a little bit. But we hope that maybe in June we can be open. It all depends on the pandemic and how things go.”
Whenever it’s reactivated again, McDermott said she is confident “we’re helping facilitate and maintain something that is a huge asset to this community.” “This is a safe space for people to go. There’s something really sacred about that and it’s not really something you can recreate in just any building.”