Trustees Ponder Community Center and Historical Preservation

Scarsdale Trustees invited residents to give their feedback on the proposal for an indoor pool and community center to be built on the grounds of the outdoor pool on Mamaroneck Avenue. The meeting was held on December 6 in the third floor meeting room of Village Hall which was packed, and some resorted to sitting on the floor or standing in the hallway. Supporters of the SCC had rallied the troops and were handing out SCC swim caps and bumper stickers, while Mayor Stevens passed around delicious homemade chocolate cookies. The cookies, were so good that several people asked for the recipe and Mayor Stevens obliged - find the recipe here .

Before hearing from the public, Mayor Stevens and Trustee Steves offered their thoughts on the project. Stevens briefly recapped the history of the proposal, calling it “long and rocky.” She believes that although the center would be multi-generational and foster community and connections, the Board needs to make sure it is financially viable. She said that the project would be evaluated on its ability to be self-sustaining and its potential to garner sufficient membership and support from the community. Trustee Steves reviewed the proposal, explaining that $8 million would need to be raised in contributions with the Village financing the balance of $16 million. Trustee Jonathan Mark emphasized the significance of the decision when he told the group that the Village contribution of $16 million would double the outstanding debt of the Village of Scarsdale. Once built, if the indoor pool failed to generate sufficient revenue, the Village will be left to fund it.

Then the focus turned to the audience, where, through a show of hands, a majority of the room revealed themselves to be supporters. One by one, people stood up to state their opinions and concerns. Advocates supported the project for the following reasons:

• The Center will bring the community together
• Scarsdale swim teams will no longer have to take long bus rides to different towns to use their pools
• The SCC will be a convenient and useful spot for senior citizens to gather
• The fitness room would be beneficial for everyone, especially high school students as the school’s fitness room needs to be renovated
• The Center’s recreation rooms could be used as party spaces, offering additional revenues to the center.

Although there were only a few opponents in attendance, they were quite vocal and opposed the center for the following reasons:

• The project is not self-sustaining since it will be financed by Village bonds
• There is a high financial risk involved at a time when the Village should not be taking risks
• Funding for many other projects is needed, such as road repair and repaving.
• A new center would require more parking spaces, especially during peak hours

As the meeting progressed, tension built in the room. A number of times, the Trustees had to stop the crowd from interrupting and engaging in shouting contests.

After two hours of debate the meeting was adjourned. The Board of Trustees agreed to hold another open meeting in the beginning of January and consider retaining a financial expert to examine the center’s financial projections and evaluate the viability of the plan.

Earlier in the evening the Trustees moved one step closer to enacting a new Historical Preservation Law in Scarsdale. Former Mayor Noreen Fisher who lead a committee to study the issue attended the December 6th meeting to recommend next steps.

The group seemed to favor the adoption of the NYS model preservation code with a few modifications. It was agreed that Scarsdale would need to formulate its own list of criteria against which buildings, structures, sites and objects would be evaluated and provide definitions of a landmark and an interior landmark.

Age alone would not define a property as historical as other factors such as important events that occurred at the site, or a design by a prominent architect of any era would also be considered. Districts, trees, rocks, monuments and landmarks might also be appropriate for the list.

The Village will need to hire an expert to inventory Village homes, buildings and sites to determine which ones might be given landmark status – pending the consent of the owners. A similar inventory had recently been completed in Greenburgh at a cost of $18,000.

After some discussion, the Trustees agreed to ask Village staff to draft a resolution to issue an RFP for an expert to conduct the Village inventory to determine which properties should be listed. The resolution will be considered at a Board of Trustees meeting in January, 2011.