Today, after 30 years of planning and 7 years of strenuous advocacy by the Cobble Hill Association and the coalition of neighborhood associations united under the Brookyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, we are very pleased to announce that a donor has come forward, offering to build a year round recreational facility at the south end of Brooklyn Bridge Park. This donor, Joshua Rechnitz, is proposing to build a $40 million year-round recreational center for public use. And while details about the facility will emerge in the coming months, we hope area residents will celebrate this generous donation by Mr. Rechnitz and tune in as plans coalesce. His generosity, initiated completely on his own, is a big statement for philanthropy in NYC today and wonderful news for area residents!
To read the full press release, check the links after the jump.
Press Release
April 19, 2012
New York City Philanthropist Offers to Underwrite Year-Round Indoor Community Recreation Facility for Brooklyn Bridge Park
Today,
at the board of directors meeting of the Brooklyn Bridge Park
Corporation, Regina Myer, president of the park, announced that Joshua
Rechnitz, founder and Chairman of the New York City Fieldhouse Inc.
(Fieldhouse), a not-for-profit corporation, offered to underwrite the
design and construction costs of a year-round, multi-use recreation
facility near Pier 5. The facility is estimated to cost $40 million and
represents one of the largest donations ever made to a New York City
park.
“This
is a very exciting project and presenting our vision to the Brooklyn
Bridge Park Corporation is an important milestone,” said New York City
Fieldhouse founder and chairman, Joshua Rechnitz. “We want this to truly
be a community endeavor that will add amenities for park users and
provide a much needed all-weather sports facility.”
The
proposed facility would be located primarily on Furman Street on a site
now partially occupied by a cinderblock building used for storage and
construction by BBPC and currently programmed for future operations and
maintenance needs. The state-of-the-art indoor recreation, cycling, and
community facility will be open for public use.
The
Fieldhouse is envisioned to include a 115,000 sq. ft. indoor recreation
center with a 200-meter inclined track for cycling and a 22,000 sq. ft.
infield for high school, collegiate, club-level and professional
sporting events, such as basketball, tennis, track cycling, volleyball,
and gymnastics. It also includes key amenities for the park such as a
public boathouse, public restrooms, and maintenance and operations space
for BBPC.
The
proposal will undergo extensive community consultation by staff and
representatives of the not-for-profit starting with a briefing to the
Brooklyn Bridge Park Community Advisory Council. Additionally, the
proposal will be presented to neighborhood, educational, and athletic
organizations for their input, as well as upcoming meetings of Brooklyn
Community Boards 2 and 6. Four
public meetings in Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Heights/Dumbo, and Red Hook, will be scheduled in order to further
gather feedback and better assess community programming needs. Once
concluded, the Fieldhouse will refine its proposal and the Board of the
BBPC will determine whether to accept the offer and commence requisite
land use and environmental reviews that will include public comment
periods.
The New York City Fieldhouse, Inc. is
a new not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting healthy and
sustainable living in our communities through recreational and
competitive sports with an emphasis on competitive track cycling. The
New York City Fieldhouse, Inc. believes that New York City deserves both
to benefit from the rapidly growing sport of competitive track cycling
and to become a new world hub for the sport.
The
New York City Fieldhouse, Inc. founder and chairman, Joshua P.
Rechnitz, is a competitive amateur cyclist, track cycling enthusiast and
philanthropist who is committed to establishing a world-class sports,
cycling and recreation center in New York City. Mr. Rechnitz is
following in the great philanthropic tradition of his late grandparents,
Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn, who made significant contributions to
cultural institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum
of Natural History, medical and academic endeavors at institutions like
Rockefeller University and Columbia University and Johns Hopkins
University and civic pursuits like the renovation of the East 72nd
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