Park Slope Armory Athletic Center to Open in September

Work is going forward on the Park Slope Armory, and the facility seems to be on target to reopen as an athletic, recreational and education center in September. Local City Council Member Bill de Blasio estimates that the project's cost will be $20 million "when the smoke clears." (The original cost was said to be $16 million, but Mr. DeBlasio used the $20M figure, so we're not clear what wasn't included in the original estimate or what has changed.) The Armory is located on Eighth Avenue between 14th and 15th streets. The renovated facility will include track and field, basketball, volleyball, tennis, gymnastics, badminton, boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, tae kwon do, handball, weightlifting, wrestling and aerobics. The renovated facility also retains a women's shelter. An RFP is going out soon to select an entity to run the facility and everyone's still trying to find a balance between individual community users and use by schools and youth leagues. The big redo is a partnership between Take the Field, a nonprofit, and the Departments of Education (DOE) and Homeless Services (DHS). The result should be a spectacular community facility in the massive 110,000 square foot space.

The opening of the new facility should come as a relief to neighbors, given that 15th Street around massive building has been the site of drug dealing (still ongoing) and other unsavory activities. On the other hand, part of 15th Street across the street is a big construction pit that is causing its own problems for neighbors, but via a different kind of crack.

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