18 Feb RENOVATIONS UNDERWAY TO TRANSFORM HISTORIC EBENEZER METHODIST CHURCH INTO NEW COMMUNITY CENTER
(Miami, FL) —Construction is underway to transform the historic Ebenezer Methodist Church, located at 300 NW 11th St, into a new community center for residents to utilize as a kitchen incubator and job training program. On February 11, 2015, CRA Chairman Commissioner Keon Hardemon, joined Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus President, Dr.Jose A. Vicente, CRA staff and area residents to celebrate the start of work on renovating the former church into a community center for residents to utilize as a kitchen incubator and job training program.
Once completed, the facility will feature a state of the art culinary/catering kitchen and kitchen incubator space for startup food businesses and local entrepreneurs and a banquet facility for public and private events. The new 9,500 square foot community center will also house the Miami Dade College Hospitality and Culinary Institutes and the office of P.U.L.S.E (People United to Lead the Struggle for Equality).
The Hospitality and Culinary Institutes is currently funded by the CRA and provides job readiness training and hospitality industry job fairs and referral services to residents in Overtown on a monthly basis.The renovations to the former church align with the CRA’s goals and mission to preserve and renovate buildings for adaptive reuse in the redevelopment area. The CRA has received a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce & Economic Development Administration to help underwrite the cost of the renovations. In addition to the grant, the CRA will contribute $2.1 million toward the completion of the project. The community center is scheduled to be completed in
January 2016. For more information on the Overtown Community Center, contact the CRA at (305) 679-6800.