HURLEYVILLE, NY — The Hurleyville Maker’s Lab had a soft opening on Monday night, becoming another part of The Center for Discovery’s Main Street Initiative. The initiative, according to John Conway, director of development at the center, aims to “bring back the community, so there is a place for the residents and visitors to interact, recreate, and to carry on their lives.”

The Center for Discovery is a national specialty center for the advanced care and treatment of children and adults with significant disabilities, medical complexities and autism spectrum disorders. The vast campus includes a 300-acre farm, residences, health center and school. The Main Street Initiative aims to expand to include Main Street in Hurleyville, so that both residents and visitors have places to go. “We want to build a community that is accessible to everyone,” Conway said. He said Hurleyville has a lot of abandoned buildings, and through donors providing funds, they were able to rehabilitate some of those buildings and turn them into viable businesses that create opportunities for both employees and customers. Although the Center for Discovery has been undertaking and coordinating the rehabilitation, the businesses are not owned and run by the center.

So far, those businesses include the restaurant Pickled Owl, the Hurleyville Market on Main, and now the Maker’s Lab. A performing arts space and dance studio will open this summer. The center will also collaborate with Sullivan County Community College (SUNY Sullivan) to offer classes at the Maker’s Lab.

What is a maker’s lab? It’s a place that provides cutting-edge and innovative technology to help people work on projects. There you can collaborate with others, work on an existing project, or start an entirely new one. The lab offers the tools necessary to do so, from 3-D printers to wood-shop machines.

A press release says, “The Hurleyville Maker’s Lab (HML) is a place for people who like to build, invent, tinker and learn new skills. HML provides modern rapid-fabrication tools and equipment in order to produce ideas in any material in an expedited product development environment. HML offers an open collaborative environment where intergenerational mentorships and parent/child partnerships are encouraged.”

The director of the maker’s lab, Mark McNamara, said it’s a place “for pooling resources and sharing equipment and skills.” He explained this is part of the “maker movement” and is a community and education-based learning environment, where you learn through making. He emphasized it could be used for schools, groups, or clubs such as the Boys and Girls Clubs.

Maker Movement

The maker movement is a worldwide culture that focuses on technology and DIY ideas. Maker spaces are on the rise in the United States and in Europe; however, there are still only about 100 in the U.S., making the Hurleyville Maker’s Lab a rare and unusual asset.

Membership

The Hurleyville Maker’s Lab is based on a membership model. Anyone 12 years of age and older from any skill level is welcome to become a member for a nominal monthly fee. Registration is available online. Members must complete safety and machine training and testing before gaining access to the fabrication and electronics areas. Skill-sharing workshops will take place on a rolling basis according to the expressed needs of members. In addition, an artist in residence program is available. Visit hurleyvillemakerslab.org.