Millbrook Community Partnership names Cora Cahan as its new CEO

MILLBROOK —  Cora Cahan was named CEO by the Millbrook Community Partnership (MCP) on Thursday, July 6. She will provide strategic leadership for the Thorne Center and Bennett Park projects, both of which are underway in the Village of Millbrook and the Town of Washington.

MCP introduced Cahan as the CEO at a private event held at the Thorne Building on Saturday, June 3.

Cahan has a background in repurposing existing community-based historic buildings, while also having built up her resume working with the performing arts. Commenting on her appointment, she said, “After spending my career in New York City, I’m thrilled to be joining a project closer to home.”

Oakleigh Thorne, president of MCP, stated in an announcement: “It was crucial for MCP to find the right leadership in this moment to propel our projects into their next phases of development. We needed a person with experience leading organizations from the ground up, strong ties to the arts community and a background in nonprofit development. Cora brings all of that and more.”

“How remarkable and noteworthy it is that the dedicated board members of the Millbrook Community Partnership have accomplished so much,” Cahan stated. “They have done a tremendous job getting the Thorne Center and Bennett Park projects off the ground and on the cusp of reinvention. I’m excited to have been drafted and entrusted with the responsibility of building on that progress by leading the projects to completion.”

When MCP obtained the Thorne Building from the village, it had also been working on obtaining the space it needed to create Bennett Park. The ultimate desire is, as noted in the announcement, “…to create a cultural hub and communal gathering space in the heart of Millbrook.”

MCP’s mission is to turn two of Millbrook’s greatest liabilities into its greatest assets, with the conversion of the dilapidated Bennett College campus into a beautiful park at the entrance to the village, and the preservation and renovation of the abandoned Thorne Memorial School building as a state-of-the-art community center focused on the arts and community interests.

The Thorne Center will serve Millbrook, Washington and central Dutchess County by offering programs for all ages. Included will be a theater suitable for multiple uses including stage productions, music, movies and lectures; a dance studio for rehearsals and classes; and a music and podcast studio with an individual practice and lesson room along with a recording studio.

There will also be art studios featuring creative spaces under the iconic skylight on the third floor, galleries for exhibitions, and a digital arts lab. A community workspace will include enclosed and open cubicles, a group meeting room and high-speed internet access.

A culinary arts center will offer culinary instruction as well as a community kitchen for farm-to-table growers and a catering facility for Thorne Center events,

The Bennett Park project will be completed in phases, with eastern trails and the outdoor Greek theater on track to open in 2023. The western section, opening in 2024, will feature an outdoor venue for concerts and performing arts. The completion of 32 acres of landscaped parkland includes expansion and improvement of the walking and biking trails, connecting with existing trails, and a Bennett Museum and Visitors’ Center.

Cahan’s credentials suggest she is well suited to the position. Starting as a dancer, Cahan changed careers, becoming an arts administrator and co-founder and executive director of the Feld Ballet and its Ballet Tech school. She later developed the Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance, and in that capacity helped to transform the Elgin Cinema into the award-winning Joyce Theater.

She was president and CEO of the New 42nd Street for 29 years, an organization known for saving seven historic theaters on the street by restoring and finding uses for them. Most recently, Cahan served as president and CEO of the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

To stay up-to-date on the MCP’s plans for Millbrook’s future, visit thornebuilding.org or millbrookbennettpark.org

Millbrook’s Thorne Building as seen from Maple Avenue. Photo by Judith O’Hara Balfe

Cora Cahan has been named CEO for the Millbrook Community Partnership, which is moving forward with the Thorne Center and Bennett Park. Photo by Brigitte Lacombe

Millbrook’s Thorne Building as seen from Maple Avenue. Photo by Judith O’Hara Balfe