A jewel in Crown Heights: The Bedford Union Armory is transformed into a recreation center for the community
Yesterday, the Bedford Union Armory, a massive old National Guard facility that like other city armories long sat vacant and in disrepair, formally became the Major R. Owens Health and Wellness Community Center, a beautiful asset to Crown Heights and Central Brooklyn. Never mind the sour carping from usual suspects who purport to be progressive; this $256 million makeover, spearheaded by the city’s Economic Development Corp. with a community benefits deal brokered by Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, is progress incarnate.
Among 415 total apartments, 260 will be affordable — which is to say, set aside for families of three making up to $58,000 a year. About 30 of those units are earmarked for formerly homeless individuals. (Original plans were for only market-rate condos.)
In the rec center’s 60,000 square feet there are indoor basketball courts and a soccer field and a pool. There’s a fitness center. There’s space for performing arts, STEM classes and LGBTQ support services. With a bevy of nonprofit partners running the programming, local residents will get swim lessons at $10 per half hour (market-rate lessons will also be available). Soccer clinics that typically cost $50 an hour will be $10. Basketball leagues will be free or low-cost.
In the fitness center, half of all memberships will be offered at a cut rate of $10 a month for low-income people. The fact that overall gym capacity will initially be capped at 500, and low-income memberships at 250, may sound stingy. It’s not; both numbers are likely to grow once the place is running.
Long ago, the armory had a stable for cavalry equines — which brings us to the subject of gift horses. Some have looked this one straight in the mouth, claiming that a tremendous new complex with affordable access for low-income families is an engine of gentrification. If the city can’t work with developers and do-gooders to build a state-of-the-art center that caters to the surrounding neighborhood without being accused of betraying that neighborhood in the process, we are truly lost.
