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BBBO buys a
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The Observatory is pleased to announce that we now have a place to call home! On March 24, 2006, BBBO purchased the Gisela Kohnen home on the corner of Second Street and Braddocks Avenue. This home will provide accommodations for banders, field assistants, bander training students, and visiting researchers—space that has long been a dream of the Observatory’s board of directors and one of the goals of the current capital campaign.
For the last 10 years we have relied upon the generosity of friends and neighbors at Braddock Bay, especially Jim Gillette, Bill Kaiser, and Bob and Charlene Reed, to provide housing for our volunteer staff. With the new acquisition, BBBO will be able to offer additional space to encourage even more research at one of North America’s most unique and active migration monitoring stations.
The house is located only a few yards from the driveway of the banding station and overlooks 13 acres of land, which was purchased last year by the Genesee Land Trust (GLT) and BBBO and permanently protected for the benefit of migratory birds. The home will provide adequate space to accommodate a small crew of banders, field assistants, and visiting researchers each season. The property also features a two-car garage and a yard that may prove useful for future studies of hummingbird migration.
The process of acquiring the house began in the fall of 2005 when BBBO began to work out the details of how the estate of Mrs. Kohnen would be dissolved. This turned out to be a fairly involved process because Mrs. Kohnen’s only surviving heirs live in Germany! By December 2005, BBBO had explored numerous scenarios for how the property may be acquired. After learning BBBO (as a non-profit organization) would not be eligible for a traditional mortgage, the Board of Directors approached several private individuals and asked for help to quickly increase the funds raised through our 2009 Capital Campaign. The response was overwhelmingly supportive. In mid-December a very generous anonymous donor offered a dollar-for-dollar matching challenge to BBBO and its Membership. Thanks to the positive response of our members to the challenge, BBBO raised more than $20,000 in less than one month! The same anonymous donor committed to a generous down payment on the house once BBBO had a purchase contract in place! In addition to that, Sandy and David Junkin, BBBO members and banders from North Java, New York, have graciously pledged to donate a substantial portion of the purchase price of the house. However, in order to purchase the house this spring, BBBO needed to secure enough money to submit a purchase offer and close on the house by March. This is where BBBO’s partner in conservation, the GLT, became part of the equation. BBBO was able to secure a private mortgage from the GLT, which enabled the Observatory to complete the purchase of the house on March 24th.
In December 2004, BBBO announced that the organization was initiating a Capital Campaign in order to meet the goals and objectives identified in its Strategic Plan. The goal of the Capital Campaign was to raise $375,000, of which $250,000 was earmarked for housing and office space. Due to the financial contributions and commitments of several donors, BBBO is approximately 40 percent toward meeting the housing goal!
In the coming months BBBO will increase fundraising efforts in order to achieve its capital needs. Part of the capital earmarked for the house will be used to pay off the GLT mortgage, while other funds will be used to establish an endowment fund in order to operate and maintain the house on an annual basis. Money is also needed for renovations (most notably with regard to the outdated electrical system) and for furnishing the house.
The Board of Directors would like to extend a special thank you to two of our own, Rick Marx and Rob van der Stricht, who spent countless hours working with lawyers, realtors, appraisers, inspectors, and Town officials during the acquisition process. BBBO thanks Sandy and David Junkin and our anonymous donor for their tremendous financial support. BBBO also extends its sincere appreciation to the following individuals who contributed time and in-kind services in conjunction with the acquisition of the house: Scott Forsyth (Forsyth & Forsyth - Attorneys and Counselors at Law), Michael Cooney, John Hood, Mike Tullio and Jason Zwetsch (Nixon Peabody LLP), Jim LeGrett (Midland Appraisal Associates, Inc.), and Lauren Judson (Mitchell Pierson, Jr. Realtors, Inc.).Rochester Birding Association (RBA) made a major contribution to the recent purchase of five acres of land adjoining Braddock Bay and Braddock Bay Bird Observatory (BBBO). This land acquisition was a joint project involving the Genesee Land Trust (GLT) and BBBO, and was made possible by the RBA donation in addition to funds from Allyn’s Creek Garden Club, Seneca Meadows, Inc., Genesee Ornithological Society, Burrough’s Audubon Nature Club, and numerous supporters of BBBO and
GLT.
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