Getting donated meeting space?

[trycatch]

Our team currently just meets in a classroom and has access to some machining equipment at a local college, but we really need a bit more space for running the robot. Our high school is over capacity and every bit of space there is crammed full.

I've heard some teams have had some success getting donated access to space like empty business buildings or high bays - any suggestion on how to find or who to contact for stuff like that? We'd be REALLY appreciative of anyone that can help get us pointed in the right direction.

[GeeTwo]

Having less space than previous years, we're planning to do drive practice in a school corridor this year. (bringing our own carpet).

As far as finding donated space, your best bet is to look for nearby commercial buildings (or spaces) which do not have a tenant. It's unlikely anyone will kick out a paying customer to donate a space. Hey, the owner/manager may be willing to let you use it, just to have it occupied.

[Jon Stratis]

We spent 6 years in a building downtown before being able to move in to our school. It started our second year as a team - one of the other mentors knew a guy that had previously worked for the same company and was now running an engineering coop. We talked him into sponsoring us by letting us use the place after hours (which included a ton of needed tools!).

He later introduced us to the building manager. We sold the program to her, and she had some space on the second floor that wasn't being used (and needed some serious renovations). So, she left us rent that space for a few months during the season. We went in an hung some lights, got things working and had a blast - the space was big enough for everything we had, plus a full practice field, and had easy access to the engineering coop on the first floor for our machining needs. At the end of the season, we packed everything up and shoved it into a closet accessible from the hallway.

It went pretty much like that for 3 years - we got amazing accommodations very cheaply. Finally the school stepped in and actually signed a 3 year lease (I have no idea how much it was for, but I assume it was more than the team had been paying!) for the space on the second floor (which had otherwise remained empty the whole time) and did some actual renovations on it to meet our needs - by this time we had definitely outgrown the closet! We stayed there for 3 years until work on the school's new STEM center was completed, and we could move in there.

There's another local team that built a year out of an empty storefront in a mall.

Your best bet for finding these types of places, other than knowing people that can get you an "in", is to look for empty store fronts or office buildings advertising space for lease. Then call up whatever number is listed and give them your sales pitch!