Bennett Park
Millbrook Community Partnership, Inc.
Millbrook Community Partnership, Inc., is a nonprofit entity which wholly owns two limited liability companies. One of these is Bennett Park, LLC which acquired 32 acres for a park from the Millbrook Tribute Garden and the Thorne Family. The other is Thorne Memorial Building, LLC which acquired title to the Thorne Building from the Village of Millbrook. Both these LLCs are nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status.
The vision of the MCP is to create a 32-acre park on the derelict Bennett site as a green gateway to the Village and to transform the Thorne Building into a vibrant community center.
A project as far-reaching and comprehensive as the Thorne Building Community Center can only be achieved through visionary leadership that encompasses a wide range of community perspectives. MCP’s overall day-to-day operations are handled by a Board of Directors.
Board of Directors
OAKLEIGH THORNE
President of the Millbrook Community Partnership, Inc.
I am the CEO of Thorndale Farm, Inc., the family office of the Thorne family. I grew up in Millbrook, and after graduating from Columbia Business School, worked in Chicago, where I ran a legal publishing company, and Denver, where I ran an online education company. I moved back to Millbrook in 2005, and ultimately moved our family office back here and into a new office building on Front Street. I am very proud to be the 10th generation of my family to be involved with our community, and hope that with the restoration and renovation of the Thorne Building Community Center and the transformation of the Bennett property into a beautiful park, we can create vibrant gathering places for the greater Millbrook area that will last for many generations to come.
GEORGE T. WHALEN III
Treasurer of the Millbrook Community Partnership, Inc.
I am President and CEO of the Bank of Millbrook, President of George T. Whalen Real Estate and an executive with George T. Whalen Insurance. I serve as a trustee of Millbrook Tribute Garden, and am a former trustee of Wethersfield Foundation and Millbrook School. I am also a director of James L. Taylor Manufacturing Inc. I received my BA from Siena College and my MBA from Syracuse University.
It is a great pleasure to work with my fellow Directors to provide two wonderful new spaces in Millbrook to enhance our cultural and educational activities. The Thorne Building Community Center and Bennett Park will provide attractive venues for all sorts of activities for young and old alike.
ANN GIFFORD
Secretary of the Millbrook Community Partnership, Inc.
I am of counsel to the law firm of Teahan & Constantino and have lived in Millbrook for more than 44 years. My husband John grew up in Millbrook and we have raised our three children here. As a longtime member of the Millbrook Arts Group, having the Thorne Building renovated and the auditorium available for concerts, plays and other artistic endeavors is extremely important to me. The development of a park where we can hold programs outdoors will be a great asset to the village. The Thorne Building Community Center and Bennett Park are exciting projects, and I am thrilled to be a member of the Board of the MCP.
CHARLES PIERCE
Board Member of the Millbrook Community Partnership, Inc. and Chairman of the Thorne Building Planning Committee
My wife Barbara and I have lived in the Millbrook area since 1970. We happily raised our two children here. I was a Professor of English literature at Vassar College, and in 1987, I was appointed Director of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. I retired in 2007, having successfully raised the profile of the Morgan as a public cultural institution. Upon retirement, Barbara and I returned to live in Millbrook.
I have long been interested in this handsome building and so I met with Oakleigh Thorne to discover that he and I both shared a desire to use the Thorne Building to enrich the cultural, educational, social, and economic life of Millbrook. We also shared a conviction that we should go to the Millbrook community itself and discover how they thought we might best use this building, which is what we did.
