Dayton non-profit, Westside Makerspacehas received over a million dollars from the City. The funding is from Dayton Recovery Plan funds as part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
Westside Makerspace hosts entrepreneurs to build their skills using shared tools and equipment — including 3-D printers and woodworking machinery.
The nonprofit says the grant will go toward a new building and more equipment.
Samantha Walker Baskin, the program manager at the Makerspace, shared their vision for their new building.
“Right now we're at an intermediate space, but we need to build our own space and we're hoping for something much bigger than what we've had,” Baskin said. “ We're looking at like 30,000 square feet potentially. So the money is going to cover that for the most part.”
The co-op’s pilot location was at the West Dayton branch library, and it is currently located at Central State University's Dayton campus.
The co-op hopes that the new space will have various areas of work, including a full woodworking shop, a metal area and classrooms for workshops.
“We’d also like to have spaces for studios for people to use. Maybe even a storefront and a gallery for some people who'd like to show or sell work.” Baskin said.
Westside Makerspace hopes to get a new location by 2025.
