KINGSTON, N.Y. – A Midtown Laundromat that had closed has reopened after the building was purchased by the NoVo Foundation, a charitable group controlled by Peter Buffett and his wife, Jennifer.
The Broadway Bubble, once known as Big Bubble, at 718 Broadway, opened officially Monday, May 16.
Megan Weiss-Rowe, a NoVo program coordinator, said the laundromat will also feature a community space.
“The Broadway Bubble was designed to be a safe, affordable space for local residents to meet their basic needs of doing laundry, and more broadly, to access a wide variety of community resources and programming,” Weiss-Rowe said in an email.
She said the NoVo foundation purchased the 6,200 square-foot building last year for $700,000.
Weiss-Rowe said that community service programs will be set up sometime this summer.
“It should be noted that a small ‘Community Hub’ space in a portion of Radio Kingston’s old offices attached to the laundromat is under construction and will be open and operated by Kingston Midtown Rising later this summer,” Weiss-Rowe said. “That space is 850 sq. ft. and will feature a small classroom/meeting space equipped for hybrid in-person/zoom calls, trainings and more, along with a private office and kitchenette”
Volunteers from Kingston Midtown Rising are “leading this effort,” Weiss-Rowe said. They include Jillian Pacheco, the Community Hub Programming Lead, and Jordan Scruggs, chairwoman of the Kingston Midtown Rising.
“The goals of the laundromat project are to provide a quality, affordable service to our community and to help people in our community recapture the time they lose doing laundry and use it for something that is meaningful for them,” Scruggs said. “We will be working with local residents to identify what kinds of opportunities and resources would be most beneficial for them to see in the space. Early feedback has emphasized educational opportunities, particularly language classes (Spanish, English, Q’eqchi), activities for children and youth, and opportunities to socialize.”
“NoVo purchased the building … in order to ensure a laundromat could reopen in the space after the former one closed during the pandemic,” Weiss-Rowe said.
Weiss-Rowe said renovations were done at the building, but was not certain of the full renovation costs as they are ongoing.
“I can tell you that the footprint of the laundromat was not changed at all, except for the removal of some broken machines, which allowed for a children’s area/community space within the laundromat to be established,” Weiss-Rowe said.
NoVo worked with local architect Robin Andrade and local general contractor Equinox Construction Group on the renovations for both the laundromat and upcoming Community Hub, Weiss-Rowe said.
Last month, the NoVo Foundation and RUPCO finalized a purchase agreement, which resulted in NoVo assuming full ownership of The Metro building on Greenkll Avenue. The NoVo Foundation bought the 70,000-square-foot facility for $2 million.
NoVo has distributed tens of millions of dollars to various organizations, governments, colleges, and not-for-profit agencies, among others, throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley region.
