The Park Slope Armory, a multipurpose athletic and educational center that will serve the local Park Slope community and many area schools, will open officially on January 30th. But now’s the time to get a charter membership.

Finally.

The sports complex at the armory was years—and megabucks—in the making. The $16 million renovation project was funded by $8.2 million from the mayor’s office, $6 million from the City Council, and $2 million from the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office.

I went to a ribbon cutting more than two years ago. Back then it looked like it was ready to open. But it didn’t. And the neighborhood waited. And waited. And waited.

People wondered what was going on, what was causing the delay. Blame was passed around.  According to the Brooklyn Paper:

Part of the delay stemmed from more extensive post-renovation fine-tuning that needed to be done, said Robert Hess, the commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services, which runs a 70-person shelter in the building and oversaw the renovation and subsequent contract with the Y. “These are tough projects once you get into them, and things that look straightforward sometimes aren’t,” he said. “We have a great partner in the Y, but we needed to build this out to their specifications, and that takes time.”

The YMCA  of Greater New York, specifically the Prospect Park Y, was selected by the City as the facility’s service operator and is operating the center. Details still need to be worked out but it looks like the neighborhood and local schools will soon get a chance to use the complex which includes a 1/8 mile track, 4 multipurpose courts for basketball, soccer and volleyball, 20,000 square feet of group exercise space, and 50 pieces of exercise equipment.

Address
361 15th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(212) 912-2580
tsylvester@ymcanyc.org

January 11: Opening Ceremony
 (it happened. So at least that was on schedule).

January 12: Charter Membership Sales begin
 (Go for it!)

January 30: Facility Opens (Let’s see if that really happens. Fingers crossed).

Photo by Amy Melson of Brooklynometry