West Side House

“The West Side House – Ithaca’s first community house – will probably be torn down in about a month, kicking off the third and most important phase of the $5 ½ million Flood Control project. It has been closed for several weeks.... "The West Side House was built by Ebenezer T. Turner in 1917 on property given by Mrs. George R. Williams. But its real  beginnings go back to 1904 when the Social Service League was first organized. Then, a building was rented at 801 W. State St., opposite the Lackawanna Railroad Station, 'to establish and maintain a neighborhood center for social and educational work and to cooperate with all social agencies making for economic and social righteousness.... The first full time worker hired by the League was Miss Ada Powell who worked from 1911 to 1931." (from Sue Strandberg, "West Side House to Tumble Down; Recreational Future in Doubt," Ithaca Journal, October 12, 1966, 15)