Mark Messier
By Percy D. Luján
Is it a castle? Is it a fort? Nope. It is the biggest ice facility in the world.
This is what the future of the Kingsbridge Armory looks like after being vacant since 1996 and several attempts to redevelop it.
Developer Kevin Parker met with community organizations in Lehman College for a luncheon last May 20.
They were celebrating the community benefits agreement, which the partnership signed to ensure that the new ice center would provide for the community around Kingsbridge.
Parker spoke of the benefits the new Kingsbridge National Ice Center, or KNIC, will bring to the local community.
“First of all, over 50 percent of the jobs in the armory will go to local residents,” said Parker. “Between jobs and the community programs, and then the economic opportunities for all the local merchants, we expect somewhere in between two to two and half million visitors a year.”
Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, board member of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, was among the negotiators between the developer and the community. This agreement, she says, is the real story behind the project.
“We have ushered a new era of development with the signing of a legally binding community benefits agreement,” said Pilgrim-Hunter. “This one is the strongest CBA in the country, so we have now modeled not only for the borough, for the city, for the state, or for the country, what a true community partnership can do.”
People who work and live in and around Kingsbridge Road say they look forward for the ice center to open. They expect that this $228 million project, composed of nine ice rinks, will bring visitors to the area and boost the local economy.
Christine Barbosa, a medical assistant at a clinic in Kingsbridge, welcomes the project saying it will give the young something to do. “I think it is about time the Armory has done something,” said Barbosa. “I really enjoy the fact it is going to be an ice-skating rink, seven in one. I have a teenage daughter, I have a lot of patients who are in the area, young ones who really have nothing much to do in the area, but sit in the park and get into trouble, so the armory will give them something to do, will give them a job opportunity, and keep them save.”
Professor Lloyd Ultan, the Bronx borough historian in the Bronx Historical Society, talked about the different ways space in the armory has been used throughout the years.
“Science, school science fairs for instance — it has been used for boat shows, for other events,” said Ultan. “Even the Bronx County Dog Show has used the place there. So the use of the armory for uses other than military has been well established.”
Mark Messier, former hockey player for the New York Rangers, also spoke at the luncheon. He is also part of the KNIC partnership. He says he is looking forward to the benefits the center will bring to the community, especially the children.
“One of the reasons why I am involved is because of the benefits the project will bring to the children and the kids in this area,” said Messier. “Although they haven’t had the opportunity to play ice sports because of the lack of facilities with nine sheets of ice they will be afforded that opportunity now.”
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