Dierdre Glenn and William Kaplan announce plans for the drill hall.
By Nancy Peckenham
A year after the city took possession of the Newburgh Armory, the non-profit group that manages the 70,000-square foot complex announced plans on Monday to turn the massive Drill Hall into a facility for large sporting events.
Dierdre Glenn, the executive director of the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, and William Kaplan, the philanthropist who funded much of therenovation work that transformed the armory’s gymnasium last year, unveiled plans for the drill hall to be open for use in January 2012.
The interior of the cavernous drill hall.
The renovation of the 23,000-square foot drill hall will cost at least $650,000 and will involve replacing the lighting along the ceiling and a new floor that will be covered with a green sports carpet.
“We hope to accomplish this by January,” Kaplan told the city and state leaders, volunteers and sports enthusiasts in attendance. “Maybe we’re dreaming.” He went on to say that just before the meeting, the Unity Center had signed a 25-year agreement with the city to manage the facility, a step that he said is necessary to get the large grants necessary to transform the space. Earlier, Glenn had estimated that it will cost five million dollars over the next four years to support its operation.
State Senator William Larkin reminded the crowd that he had to wrangle the armory from the nine other groups that had been trying to get it from the state in 2009. The proposed recreational and educational use of the facility convinced state authorities to sell it to the city for $1, he said. “It isn’t just money,” Larkin said, “It is a commitment to this city.”
Some 500 young people are using the armory this summer for a variety of recreational camps, including tennis and basketball. Organizers say 7,500 “guests” have been to the gymnasium and classrooms since they opened last November.
Volunteers Elaine Cannella, Lisette Martinez, Karen McCarthy, Carmen Vazqueztell and Peter Gonzalez are working on soccer plans for the Armory.
Following the brief announcement, a group of adults who are planning soccer activities, committee held an impromptu meeting to move ahead their plans for future tournaments and training clinics at the site. They are some of a long list of people from more than a dozen organizations who are putting their energy into making the armory a success. People like Nancy Kanan of the Dispute Resolution Center helped to launch the armory programs last November while Chris Hawkins, an engineer, has volunteered his time to oversee many of the renovations.
Outside the armory building, a volunteer with AmeriCorps was working in the community vegetable garden that was started earlier this year with the help of grant money. A dozen plots are available for growing vegetables to any family or organization that pays a small fee. Christine Hutchinson, who works with girls in a program at Newburgh Free Academy, said that she claimed a plot for the teens. Two other plots filled with tomatoes, squash and other greens are being cultivated for the women’s shelter.
Christine Hutchinson tends a plot in the community garden outside the Armory building.
“This building and these improvements will belong to the city of Newburgh,” Glenn emphasized during her presentation. “You people own it,” Kaplan said.
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