The NoVo Foundation will spend about $1 million on a lead abatement project at the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center, more than twice the city’s contribution to the plan. The contribution is the latest effort by NoVo to fund initiatives outside of the normal purview of city government as part of its goal of building resilient communities.

Mayor Steve Noble announced the lead abatement project last week, seven months after an inspection team from the county health department confirmed high levels of lead in peeling paint in the former armory’s gymnasium where the city hosts an indoor play-space for preschool-aged children during the winter months. Exposure to lead paint chips has been linked to a number of neurological disorders in children. The lead abatement portion of the project is expected to start in early August and wrap up in October. The plan also calls for the installation of new play equipment and refurbishing of the interior of the neighborhood center on Broadway.

In an email to Kingston Wire City Hall spokeswoman Summer Smith said that the city would use $400,000 in federal funds through the American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief program for the project. That money, Smith said, would go towards the new equipment and refurbishment. The actual removal of lead paint will be entirely funded by NoVo in Kingston, a branch of the nonprofit charitable foundation that administers grants and funds capital programs in the city. NoVo spokeswoman Megan Weiss-Rowe said that the foundation anticipated the cost of their portion of the plan to be about $1 million. Weiss-Rowe added that the foundation would use the same contracting team it hired back in 2021-2022 when NoVo funded the complete renovation — including lead abatement — of the Murphy Center’s kitchen.

“The Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center is a key community asset, serving as everything from a large event gathering space, to a shelter and resource management center during emergencies, to an indoor children’s play area, and everything in between,” said Weiss-Rowe in an email to Kingston Wire. “When we became aware of the community’s needs at this site, [the kitchen renovation project] deeply aligned with our work in the development of the localized food system and the experiences we all faced at the peak of the pandemic when access to emergency meal programs and cold food storage was at its height.”

The NoVo foundation is run by Peter Buffett — son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett — and his wife Jennifer and is funded through regular infusions of Berkshire Hathaway stock. Over the past decade the couple have made Kingston a showcase of sorts for their efforts to build resilient community institutions capable of withstanding shocks brought on by climate change, economic crisis and other catastrophes. Much of NoVo in Kingston’s work revolves around a ten-square-block section of Midtown that is home to many of the city’s poorest residents and center of Kingston’s Latino immigrant community. NoVo supported programs include Radio Kingston which recently built a park adjacent to the station on Broadway and the Broadway Bubble laundromat which offers discounted rates and a community programming.

The foundation has also invested heavily in local nonprofits like the YMCA, People’s Place and the Boys and Girls Club, pouring millions into capital projects and helping offset operating expenses. That largesse has extended to city government itself with the foundation footing the bill for special projects and programs outside of standard operating expenses.

Among the NoVo-funded city initiatives are the development of an Arts and Culture Master Plan and the city’s office of Health and Wellness. The foundation has also paid for feasibility studies and other planning work on projects that align with its goals. Weiss-Rowe added that the foundation was also making plans to work with the city and other partners on new housing initiatives.