By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
A Rego Park community facility built during the Great Depression for $100,000 reopened last week following a four-year, $26 million renovation. <\/p>\n
The Lost Battalion Hall Recreation Center, once used as a firing range for Queens veterans, reopened its doors to local residents on Friday as an entirely renovated community and recreation center.<\/p>\n
Parks Department Commissioner Tricia Shimamura and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the reopening, which brings a more accessible and modern recreation center to the middle of Central Queens.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery New Yorker should feel proud of their public spaces,\u201d the mayor said. \u201cWe\u2019re reopening Lost Battalion Hall just in time for the weather to cool down and New Yorkers to head indoors to continue playing their favorite sports all winter long.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith new equipment, accessibility improvements and safety upgrades, Lost Battalion Hall will be even more welcoming to New Yorkers. Whether you\u2019re here to shoot hoops, work out or hang out, this is your recreation center,\u201d the mayor added. <\/p>\n
The four-year, top-to-bottom renovation included the redesign of the entrance and lobby, refurbished fitness spaces, updated restrooms, a newly painted basketball court, new equipment and upgraded safety and building systems. <\/p>\n
The center\u2019s weightlifting area, spin room and fitness room were also upgraded, as were locker areas, storage facilities and bathrooms. <\/p>\n
Most of the work was dedicated to increasing the accessibility and sustainability of the center. <\/p>\n
\u201cRego Park children and families have long deserved high-quality recreation space to call their own, especially in a community that glaringly lacks sizable parks or playgrounds,\u201d Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. \u201cWe are delivering exactly that this massive refurbishment of Lost Battalion Hall, which has been the anchor of this neighborhood for generations, ensuring our neighbors have safe spaces that support our physical and mental wellness is a top priority of my administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lost Battalion Hall has a long and fabled history in Central Queens. <\/p>\n
It was completed in 1939 as a project for the Works Progress Administration, the New Deal program created by President Franklin Roosevelt to give jobs to Americans and improve public works and infrastructure. <\/p>\n
Its $100,000 price tag is worth about $2.3 million in today\u2019s buying power, less than the $26 million renovation cost.<\/p>\n
The building was first used as a firing range and drill hall for the Queens Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, according to Forgotten New York.<\/p>\n
It became Parks Department property in 1960. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lost Battalion Hall has become a staple in Queens for 87 years,\u201d Queens Councilmember Jim Gennaro said. \u201cIt is where neighbors come together, where kids can stay active, where seniors can socialize and where people of all ages and backgrounds can unwind. And now, with these renovations, we have a facility that’s better equipped to serve the community here for generations to come.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach A Rego Park community facility built during the Great Depression for $100,000 reopened last week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-373808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}