The India Cultural Centre had been meeting at the Jewish Community Center of Binghamton for a number of years, but as the community grew, they felt the need to find a ’cultural home’ of their own.  When the Vandervort farmstead on Sheedy Road became available, the community looked at it as plausible site to construct a new home with ample parking and room to grow.

With very limited funding, but a lot of faith, Dr. Bhandari and Dr. Jay Lalkyia took the lead on the building committee. Their first step was to call Doak Engineering Design, PC for guidance with the site development and building process.

Originally, their plan was to tear down the farmhouse and construct a new building in the northeast corner of this 3.6 acre site while developing the remaining area for parking.

• In their new facility, they wanted:
• As much building and parking as the site and budget would allow
• Living quarters for a live-in housekeeper
• An apartment for guests
• A recreation area for the children

Based on some preliminary investigations into costs, and local zoning regulations, Doak Engineering Design, PC determined that the original plan was beyond their budget.  Additionally, the property zoning was ‘grandfathered’ and if the existing farmhouse was demolished, the zoning would change and prevent them from providing on-site living quarters.  It was apparent that the best alternative was to renovate the existing farmhouse and by balancing the building’s seating capacity and the site’s parking capacity, we could provide the optimum seating capacity.The first floor of the house and garage were gutted and expanded to provide a community meeting room, while the second floors of were retained for the housekeeper’s quarters and guest apartment.  A parking lot filled the remainder of the site.

Doak Engineering Design, PC, provided all preliminary and final engineering and design services for this project.

Visit their website at http://www.iccbinghamton.org