Everybody in the parking lot!
A coterie of local pols, community activists, kids and YMCA members broke ground on the Prospect Park Y’s new $5.7-million pool center on Monday — kicking off an 18-month construction project in the Ninth Street facility’s back lot.
Borough President Markowitz’s office allocated $873,000 out of its capital budget for a center that “will keep thousands of Brooklynites swimming and backstroking their way to a long and healthy life in Brooklyn,” he said.
Councilman Bill DeBlasio (who wants to replace Markowitz in 2010) cobbled together $500,000 in city funds and Assemblyman James Brennan found $250,000 from the state.
The largest private donation — $100,000 — came from Brooklyn Heights resident Wids DeLaCour.
The facility will complement the Y’s original pool, a classic (and small) natatorium built in 1927, and will feature a six-lane swimming hole that will allow the Y to double its existing pool time for kids and families.
Also, the Y plans to expand its “Second Grade Swim” classes from the current 300 kids to 1,000 by the time the pool is complete and filled by spring, 2009.
