By Thorne Building, Posted May 11, 2020

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The Thorne Building, a landmark that has been emblematic of the Village of Millbrook for the past 125 years, will see new life as a community center under plans that have made a major move forward with the recent selection of an architect for the project.

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The Board of the non-profit Thorne Building Community Center (TBCC) has announced that Michael Sloan and his team at Sloan Architects, P.C., have been chosen as the architectural firm for the proposed revitalization.

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Sloan's design, which would accommodate a wide variety of anticipated uses, includes:

• an auditorium and a large meeting space intended to support a rich array of cultural programming, such as readings, plays, concerts, lectures, films, and social events

• a kitchen that could cater events, serve as a small café, and host cooking classes

• a music studio (including a rehearsal space), a podcast studio, a video gaming room, and an art studio

• a technology room

• an exhibition gallery space

• smart classrooms and seminar rooms

• space for primary and middle school after-school activities

• a shared office space system with internet access

• community-based outdoor spaces, including a proposed new bandshell with landscaped amphitheater lawn seating and an elegant landscaped garden for quiet lunches or small social gatherings.

 

Sloan, whose Millbrook-based firm has served a wide variety of clients ranging from Vassar College and SUNY Oneonta to Millbrook Vineyards & Winery since its establishment in 1997, has a very personal history with the Thorne Building: His greatgreat-grandfather, William Thorne, was one of the original donors who helped to make the iconic structure possible. "I have always viewed the Thorne Building as one of the village's anchors," he said. "It's so important that the building remain communitybased. And now is the time to re-energize this cultural resource."

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"If current events have taught us anything, it is the extraordinary importance of community in all of our lives," said Oakleigh Thorne, chairman of the TBCC Board. "We envision the Thorne Building Community Center as a cornerstone of community for the Village of Millbrook, and indeed for all of central Dutchess County. This marks a significant step forward for this important project. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with such a talented firm, and with an architect as sensitive and imaginative as Michael Sloan."