Two years after receiving City Council approval, a contested vision to redevelop the Bedford-Union Armory is beginning to materialize as construction launches for the site’s conversion from a 20th-century cavalry base into an expansive recreation center.
The city-owned armory, bounded by Bedford and Rogers Avenues and Union and President Streets in Crown Heights, is in the midst of a transformation by developer BFC Partners and the NYC Economic Development Corporation after years of siting vacant. The more than century-old castellated hall, which once hosted horse stables, a firing range, and administrative offices for a cavalry troop, will soon be reimagined with several sports fields, a swimming pool, and space for local non-profits and civic groups.
Ultimately, the armory is intended as a nexus for the neighborhood, as it works to meet the area’s dearth of recreational spaces while preserving the neighborhood’s history and diverse cultural legacy, say officials.
“The community has been living with this building for decades, and to be able to bring it to fruition, we want it to be not just about the future but also have it acknowledge the history and culture of this community,” says James Patchett, the CEO of NYC’s Economic Development Corporation. “That’s really what this project is about.”
Under the redevelopment plans, the project will also include 415 rentals—250 of which are below market rate—in a pair of 8- and 15-story buildings adjacent to the armory. Initial plans called for 60 luxury condominiums, but officials scrapped those after fierce community pushback. New York City will retain ownership of the armory under a long-term lease.
During a recent tour, the cavernous hall bustled with workers shepherding in materials. Excavation and demolition has wrapped up at the site; now, the work of actually building out the armory is commencing. Within the next six months, crews will carve out a space for the six-lane swimming pool and begin laying down sub-flooring. A smoked-glass wall will separate the pool from the main space, which will include a synthetic turf multi-sports field, three hardwood basketball courts, and bleachers throughout.
Individual organizations will operate each component: Imagine Swimming will run the pool, Globall Sports will operate the multi-purpose field, and New Heights Youth will oversee the basketball courts. Groups such as these will offer an array of athletic and academic programing. Ten organizations have signed leases—at $6 a square foot—for space in the armory, and that number could eventually triple.
“This will really be a one-stop-shop for kids and young people to find themselves in their after school hours and weekend,” says Donald Capoccia, a partner at BFC. “I think we’re filling a void for Crown Heights that’s really much in demand.”
The main floor also features a sort of all purpose gathering space that is expected to serve as an arts venue for film screenings, performances, and gallery space; Brooklyn Community Board 9 has expressed interest in hosting meetings there. Down the hall, there will be a public cafe, which currently features the remnants of a floor to ceiling fire place adorned with a painted-gold lion head.
Of what can be salvaged, BFC says it plans to preserve 80 percent of the armory’s architectural details. Those will either be revitalized or worked back into the design elsewhere. Nearly 100 wooden bleachers that date back to the early 1900s, for instance, will be restored and used in the rooftop gardens of the residential buildings. And salvaged brick is being relaid in its original herringbone pattern to help divide five dance studios on the second floor, which will be run by Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy.
City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, who represents the area and voted for the project in 2017, visits the site monthly and envisions murals and painted drapes with local figures, such as Rep. Major Owens, who advocated for revitalizing the armory into a community resource. Abstract expressionist painter Danny Simmons and curator Brian Tate are partnering with BFC to ensure there are artistic nods to the area’s Caribbean, African American, and Hasidic community throughout the space.
The revamped armory is expected to open in November 2020. The 8- and 15-story residential buildings are expected to respectively wrap up in April 2021 and April 2022.
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