Category: News

English below

Много се радваме да споделим, че този понеделник 10-ти февруари, 2020, Българският Център в Нова Англия закупи сграда в Билерика за целите на българската общност! В партньорство с Българското училище “Св. св. Кирил и Методий”, Българската църква “Св. Петка” и Българо-американския културен център “Мадара” ви каним да се присъедините към нашата мисия да запазим българското и да отпразнуваме нашия нов общ дом. Благодарим ви за постоянната подкрепа и дарения!

Сградата се намира на кратко разстояние от път № 3. Тя е приблизително 3 700 кв. фута, разположена на 1,64 декара земя и има паркинг за поне 60 коли. На първия етаж има голяма зала, която може да побере до 150 души, а на долния етаж има малка кухненска площ, с две малки класни стаи и помещение за добавяне на поне още 2 до 3 класни стаи. Намерението е голямата зала да се раздели с подвижни стени за училището и да се отваря за църковни и културни функции по всяко друго време.

Плановете за обновяване до есента на 2020 включват подготовка на сградата за използването ѝ от училището, включително изграждане на класни стаи, инсталиране на подвижни стени и подобряване на конструкцията. В бъдеще възнамеряваме да направим допълнителни разширения за отделни класни стаи и зали, за да облекчим многофункционалното използване на пространството.

Ще поканим всички на церемонията за “рязане на лентата” през март, датата ще бъде обявена допълнително.

Всичко това е постигнато с помощта на вашите щедри дарения, но работата по сградата едва сега започва. Имаме нужда от вашата помощ! Продължаваме да събираме средства, за да покрием ремонтите и текущите разходи. 

Моля, дарете на: https://PayPal.me/BgCNE и споделете това съобщение. Всеки долар има значение. Ако искате да дарите по друг начин, пишете ни на info@bulgariancenter.org
Заедно можем да направим повече!

Благодарим на всички, които подкрепяха тази кауза през годините и продължават да я подкрепят и досега! Специални благодарности на българската църва “Св. Петка”, Българското училище “Св. св. Кирил и Методий” и Българо-американския културен център “Мадара”. 

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We are pleased to announce that this Monday, February 10, 2020, BCNЕ purchased a building in Billerica for the purposes of the Bulgarian community! In partnership with the Bulgarian School “Sv. sv. Kiril i Methodii”, the Bulgarian Church “St. Petka” and the Bulgarian-American Cultural Center “Madara” we invite you to join in our mission to preserve our Bulgarian heritage and celebrate our new home. Thank you so much for your continuous support and donations!

Roughly 3,700 sq. ft., the building is situated just a few minutes off Route 3, sits on 1.64 acres of land and has parking for at least 60 vehicles. The main floor houses a hall that can seat up to 150 people, and the bottom floor has a small kitchen area, with room for 4 classrooms and an office. The intent is to partition the big hall with movable walls so that it can be used for classrooms, and opened for church and cultural functions at all other times.  

Our renovation plans include preparing the building for the school’s use by the fall of 2020, including building classrooms, installing movable walls, and upgrading the structure to comply with all necessary building codes. In the future, we intend to expand the facility further, including separate classroom space and function halls to alleviate the dual use of the space.

We will invite everyone to the groundbreaking ceremony in March, date to be announced.

Everything so far has been achieved thanks to your generosity, but the work is just beginning. We need your help! We continue to raise funds to cover renovations and ongoing costs.
Please kindly donate at: https://PayPal.me/BgCNE and share this message. if you would like to use a different donation method, please email us at info@bulgariancenter.org 
Every dollar makes a difference!
Together we can do more!

Thanks to all of you who have supported us over the years and continue to support us to this day! Special thanks to the Bulgarian Church  “St. Petka”, the Bulgarian School “Sv. sv. Kiril i Metodii”, and the Bulgarian-American Cultural Center “Madara”.

Dear Bulgarian Community:

I would like to share further details about the planned acquisition of 310 River Street, Billerica to serve as the home of the Bulgarian Center of New England.

A Brief History of the Bulgarian Center of New England, Inc.(BCNE)

BCNE was founded in early 2013 in conjunction with the Bulgarian Church, the Bulgarian School and BACC Madara, with the primary purpose of finding a home for the Bulgarian community. All three organizations have remained actively involved since that time. The organization has been run completely by volunteers who have spent countless hours raising funds and organizing events for the community, as well as searching for a home for the center.

Since 2013, BCNE has conducted several surveys via social media and email to the Bulgarian Community to determine suitable locations and priorities. Responses and population density lead us to concentrate on the 128 belt, stretching from the Waltham area to in and around Boston.

After raising sufficient funds for a down payment in early 2019, we ramped up our search efforts.  In order to qualify for a loan. Commercial lenders advised that we had to partner with the Bulgarian School and could only qualify for a loan of $400,000.00.  Given that we had only raised roughly $150,000.00 at that point, we had to be realistic in our search. A number of buildings were viewed and considered, including properties in Burlington, Revere, Framingham and Melrose, however, all buildings were well above our budget ($800K plus) and required a significant investment to make them suitable for the communities’ needs. There were no buildings available in and around Boston that were anywhere near our budget.

Building Location

Late this summer, the partnering organizations expanded the geographic search area to be able to find a building within budget while meeting the criteria set out by the organizations.  After an exhaustive search, the property in Billerica was identified, and met the bulk of the criteria – large enough to meet the needs of the school, space for the church to hold services and mark religious milestones of the Bulgarian community, large parking, and a main hall that could host smaller events and celebrations for the community.  The building is about 7.5 miles from the Burlington Mall, just off exit 28 on Route 3. Billerica also has a commuter rail station in town about 2.5 miles from the building. Every member of the boards of the Center and the BG school viewed the building and unanimously agreed to move forward with the purchase.  

About the building:

Roughly 3,700 sq. ft., formerly used as a church, the building sits on 1.64 acres of land and has parking for at least 60 vehicles.   The main floor houses a sanctuary that can seat up to 150 people, and the bottom floor has a small kitchen area, with two small existing classrooms and room to add in at least 2 to 3 more classrooms. The intent is to partition the sanctuary with moveable walls so that it can serve as additional classroom space as needed, and opened up for church and cultural functions at all other times.  

Purchase Negotiations:

The seller acquired the property at the end of October, 2019 for a purchase price of $401,000.  The property was originally listed in July, 2019 for $400,000, and the Seller went under agreement shortly thereafter.   Unfortunately we had not yet expanded our search to include Billerica, otherwise we may have had a shot at the property closer to its original asking price.  The seller, a developer, initially intended to develop the property with multiple residential structures. The town advised him that as the property was previously approved for church/school use, that he should instead market the property for such purposes.  The seller installed a new septic system and relisted the property at the end of November for $650,000, which is when the building first appeared on our radar. After board approvals, an offer was made at $550,000, contingent upon the property appraising at or above the purchase price.  As multiple offers were made on the property, the final agreed to winning bid by our organization was $575,000. Post inspection we were able to further negotiate the price to the final purchase price of $565,000. Given the current feasibility of the location and the ability for future expansion, and given that it is within our budget and our ability to carry the mortgage, the decision was made to continue to move forward with the purchase.

Renovation and construction plans:  

Phase I:  While the structure is relatively usable to meet church and function hall needs, much work is needed to prepare the building for the school’s use by this fall, including building classrooms, installing movable walls, and upgrading the structure to comply with all necessary building codes.

Phase II:  As funds are raised by the community, we intend to expand the facility further, including separate classroom space to alleviate the dual use of the sanctuary/function hall, expansion of the sanctuary/function hall to host larger events and additional space to host meetings and social events.

We are in the process of applying for a large capital grant, which will certainly help our efforts if we are approved, however, financial support from the community at this time is critical and we hope you will join us in making this happen!  

Our team has been working hard for 7 years now to find a home for you, the Bulgarian community, and we will continue our efforts to develop the facility to best support the community’s needs. 

Честита Нова Година!

David S. Flashenburg, President, 

on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Center of New England, Inc.

Our new home is almost a reality! Help us get there!
Donate directly at PayPal.me/BgCNE

We have entered into an agreement for a building in Billerica. Pending approval of the loan, we hope to complete the closing by February, 2020. Your donations are needed more than ever to ensure we can secure the loan! This is the final stretch!

English below

Скъпи приятели,
Отдавна не сме ви писали да ви уведомим как се развиват нещата с Българския център. Знаем, че някои от вас не са сигурни с какво точно се занимаваме и с каква цел. Ето някои от основните точки:

• БЦНА е отделна организация от БГ Училището, БГ Църквата и Център “Мадара”. Нашата цел е да намерим сграда за всички тези организации заедно. Важно е да се знае, че тези организации ще плащат наем, който ще покрива заема за сградата.
• Ние работим активно от 5 години и сме събрали $148,499.42, но тази сума не е достатъчна за заем. Затова БЦНА установява партньорство с БГ Училището, за да кандидатстваме заедно. Училището е единствената българска организация тук, чието партньорство може да осигури одобрение на заема.
• През януари работихме с банка за получаване на предварително одобрение. Ще бъдем одобрени за $450,000 на базата на наема само от Училището. Ако намерим сграда с установени наематели,които плащат $3,000 на месец, възможно е банката да ни отпусне до $900,000.
• Търсим усилено сграда до 1 милион, но засега не сме намерили нищо подходящо. Търсим в градовете Waltham-Burlington-Woburn-Stoneham, както и Everett and Malden.
• Трудно е да намерим сграда в тези градове за този бюджет. Затова мислим и за други опции като закупуване на сграда като дългосрочен наем, закупуване на земя за строеж и т.н. Когато намерим нещо подходящо, най-вероятно ще направим отново фъндрейзър, защото ще имаме нужда от поне още $50,000 за първоначална вноска.

Имаме нужда от вашата помощ! В БЦНА сме само няколко доброволци и  понякога нямаме необходимото време или ноу хау. Имаме нужда от помощ в сферата на поддържане на членска база, която е много важна, за да покажем на банките, че имаме подкрепата на нашето общество. Имаме няколко комитета като фъндрейзинг и комуникации, където също имаме нужда от хора. Ако това звучи като нещо, с което можете да помогнете, моля свържете се с нас на info@bulgariancenter.org

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Dear friends,

It’s been a while since you’ve heard from us and we would like to update you on what we’ve been working on for the past 12 months. We’ve received feedback from many of you who either are not clear what BCNE is trying to accomplish, or where we are in the process of finding and purchasing a building. Here are some key points:

• BCNE is a separate organization from the School, the Church and Madara. Our goal, however, is to find a building that will accommodate all the organizations in the area. It’s important to note that these organizations will be paying rent which will be used to cover the mortgage.
• While BCNE has been active for more than 5 years and raised $148,499.42, this is not enough to secure a loan. Therefore, we will partner with the School and jointly apply for a commercial loan. The School is the only Bulgarian organization that sufficient history and assets to ensure bank approval.
• In January, we worked with a bank on a loan pre-approval. We can get approved for up to $450,000 based just on the rent that the School will be paying. If we can find a building that already has tenants who pay $3,000 rent a month, bank will lend up to $900,000.
• We are actively searching for a building, but haven’t been able to find anything suitable. Out target price is $1M. We are focused on the Waltham-Burlington-Woburn-Stoneham line, as well as Everett and Malden.
• It will be difficult to find a building that will meet the needs of all the organizations, that is in the desired area and within our budget. Therefore, we’ll explore all options, including purchasing, long-term rent (with an option to purchase), buying land and building, etc. Once we find a building, we’ll likely have a quick fundraiser, as we’ll need to raise at least another $50K to cover the down payment.

We need your help! The BCNE team is has just a handful of volunteers and we simply don’t have the time, and sometimes the right skills to do what is necessary.  Some of the areas we need help with are creating and maintaining a membership base (this is important for the bank in particular to see we have constant support from the community), communications, fundraising. We have several committees which you can join and contribute to. If these are things you have knowledge or passion about, please reach out to us аt infor@bulgariancenter.org