The new community center in New Hyde Park will be constructed beside Village Hall. (Photo by Ben Fiebert)
New Hyde Park’s new community center went up for bid last month, as New Hyde Park Mayor Christopher Devane promises it will bring neighbors together.
About $700,000 in grant money — $250,000 from the county and $450,000 from the state — will be used to construct the new community center. The project will end up totaling about $2.5 to $4 million.
Devane said the old community center was completely dilapidated, wasn’t maintained and didn’t have a foundation under half of it. That center, which was beside Village Hall, was torn down.
“We’re going to move the footprint up so it’s even with Village Hall,” Devane said. “It’s going to be a one-level community center. It’s going to be absolutely beautiful.”
He said the old center was very dark and the new one will have a “bank of windows,” ushering in natural light. Upon entering the center, there will be a lounge with a kitchenette where seniors can gather to watch the news, play cards and have breakfast.
“There’s going to be a main hall where we would have meetings and fundraisers,” Devane said. “And then there will be a smaller hall in the back where, for example, the American Legion can meet, somewhere the Cub Scouts can meet because we have a lot of organizations that do meet here.”
The community center will also be used as a shelter in case of an emergency.
He said he would like to host a celebration in the center every month to celebrate different countries. For instance, in October, he said the center might host a German celebration with German singers and food as a way for neighbors to learn more about different cultures. Another event Devane mentioned that the center might host is Diwali.
Madhvi Nijjar, the deputy mayor of New Hyde Park, is the first person of color to be on the village board in 100 years. Devane said the more he talks with her about their different traditions and cultures, the more he realizes they want the same thing for the community: a safe, clean environment that brings people together. This is an example of the type of conversations that Devane said he’d like to see in the community center.
“It brings people together and that’s what we want to do with the community center,” Devane said. “We want it to be a celebration of every ethnicity in the community and even ethnicities we don’t know about and what we will do is bring people together, have entertainment, have food and really make this a celebration.”