NEW SCOTLAND — Elected New Scotland officials, town employees, and volunteers joined Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy on Wednesday to celebrate $40,000 in upgrades made to the Wyman Osterhout Community Center.

“It’s a small grant,” Fahy said, “but it carries a serious weight, and makes a serious difference.”

Supervisor Douglas LaGrange said there are “big grants you hear about all the time, but these are the type grants that really get things done on a local level.”

Councilman William Hennessy spoke about the importance of the Osterhout Center, formerly the New Salem schoolhouse, to New Scotland. 

“It’s vital to our town and to our community,” Hennessy said. “With the village of Voorheesville … so close, and we have so many hamlets in New Scotland that this facility will serve. It’s a multipurpose facility. It’s our historical society. It’s our Community Center. And it’s a polling place.”

The original grant was for $75,000, of which $40,000 was used for upgrades to the Osterhout Community Center; $20,000 went toward parking improvements at the Hilton Barn; and $15,000 paid for a pavilion at Swift Road Park. 

The center, which hosts a weekly senior congregate meal, received:

— A new kitchen and prep area; 

— New vinyl laminate flooring throughout;

— A fresh coat of interior paint; and

— The town used a National Grid program to swap out all the old lights for new high-efficiency light-emitting diode (LED) lighting.