Sweden Clarkson Community Center donor steps forward

Thanksgiving and Christmas came early to the participants in the Sweden Clarkson Community Center in the form of a nearly $3 million donation and the deed to the Community Center presented to town officials.

At the November 26 Sweden Town Board meeting, a deed for the former Golden Heights property was delivered to town officials. The property has been converted into the Clarkson-Sweden Community Center. “We are being given this gift free and clear,” Supervisor Nat O. “Buddy” Lester said. “At one point we thought we might have to pay a nominal consideration but the donor has agreed to give the town the whole property.”

The donor of the building and the land that it sits on had preferred to remain anonymous, but according to his father, he decided to step forward and put an end to speculation on his motives for the donation.

Richard L. Booth, Jr., a former Sweden native who now lives in Texas, was approached by Lester when the Golden Heights property went into foreclosure. Booth grew up in Sweden and was a classmate of Lester’s, he said. “He hasn’t forgotten his roots and how important recreation is to those who live in this community,” Lester said.

Booth’s family was very active in the town’s recreational community, Lester said. “Rich’s father helped create the Pop Warner football in Brockport … his father was very active in sports.”

When Sweden officials heard the property was for sale, Lester contacted several people to see if they would be willing to give assistance to the town in hopes that the building would become a community center. “Richard realized the tremendous need in the community for an indoor community center and he stepped forward and purchased the building and the land,” Lester said.

Booth purchased the building, undertook the renovations and allowed Sweden to be a tenant for a year. “I think he was monitoring the situation to see if the community was using the facility and what their response to it was,” Lester explained. “When he saw the overwhelming support and response, he saw it was in the community’s best interest to donate it to us.”

Lester said the $3 million gift is one of the largest gifts he has ever heard of being given to a municipality from a private source. “The town will be responsible for the operational costs and maintenance of the facility,” Lester said.

Richard Jr.’s father, Richard, who lives in Canandaigua, spoke on behalf of his son and described his son’s generosity in giving the gift to the town. “My son is just grateful for the town in which he grew up and he just decided to purchase the building, refurbish it and gift it to Sweden,” the elder Booth said.

“This is a huge gift … we will now be able to take care of the indoor recreation facilities and needs of this community for the next 60 to 70 years,” Lester said. “And we will be able to do that without any burden to our taxpayers. To have this beautiful facility turned over to us without any debt service is just phenomenal.”

Booth said his son does a lot of philanthropic work. “He just had a lot of good memories of growing up here and just wants to give back to the community. … I’m so proud of him for doing this,” Booth said of his son. “He is one of the most generous people I know and he gives these gifts without expecting, or wanting, any fanfare.”

Richard Jr. graduated from Brockport and then from Cornell in 1982, worked at Wall Street and received his MBA from New York University. He now is the managing director of HBK, LLC in Dallas, Texas, his father said.

Booth and his father were in the audience at both of the open houses hosted at the Community Center. “He wanted to keep this anonymous,” Richard, Sr. said but because there has been so much talk about who the benefactor was he came forward. “Now that the deed has been presented, he has no financial interest in the building,” Booth said. “It is a free and clear donation to the town. Richard just wants the town and the people to benefit from the community center.”

“We are so fortunate to have an angel out there who is willing to do this for the community,” Lester said. “There are no strings attached other than the fond memories Richard has for his home town.”