Ground Broken For 'Green' Marine Park Community Center
By Neil S. Friedman
Ground is broken for new community center last Friday. Phil Abramson Local elected officials joined senior citizens, students, community residents, members of Millennium Development and others last Friday afternoon in Marine Park to break ground for a new Community Center that will be located near the current field house.
Among the dignitaries present were Borough President Marty Markowitz, City Councilman Lew Fidler, State Senator Martin Golden, State Assembly Members Alan Maisel and Helene Weinstein and city Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.
Before the ground breaking, the Marine Park Junior High School Band and the Midwood Active Adults Chorus performed, and Alexandra Pettas, a P.S. 207 student, sang a rousing rendition of the National Anthem. Members of the Marine Park Adult Advisory Board presented officials with T-shirts to celebrate the occasion.
The future Community Center will be named in honor of the late Carmine Carro, who, before he died three years ago, was called the "Mayor of Marine Park" and served as president of the Marine Park Civic Association. It will feature multi-purpose rooms for recreation and community programs to serve people of all ages. The center will also include fully-accessible bathrooms, a kitchen, skylights and administrative offices and storage space.
(From left)Fidler, Maisel and Weinstein hold commemorative T-shirts. Barry Fischer The center will be the Parks Department's first state-of-the-art "green building" complete with solar panels to collect the sun's energy and convert it to electricity, geo-thermal wells that will provide heating and cooling by pumping water from the aquifer through the building and a planted roof to insulate the building and absorb rainwater.
"The new Marine Park Community Center will provide a welcoming environment for recreation and community programs," said Benepe. "I am grateful to Mayor Bloomberg, Council Member Fidler, Senator Golden, and Assembly Members Maisel and Weinstein for providing the funds for this $11 million project."
The building, Benepe noted, is an example of the city's commitment to an environmentally-friendly 21st century.
