The former Coles Elementary School is empty, but the space represents a variety of possibilities for the city, according to Mayor Ralph Suozzi.
For the last decade the school had been leased to the private Solomon Schecter Jewish Day School before that institution left one year ago to be closer to its student.
that the city would retain ownership of the property, which closed as a public school in 1992, in the interest of keeping it a public asset.
Here are some of the possibilities the city is looking at:
- Senior center
- Youth center (including Catholic Youth Organization program center)
- Police auxiliary center
- Veteran housing facility
- Space for businesses that can’t afford to open downtown
- Space for businesses that don’t mesh with
the downtown scene (ex. A software company)
None of these options are mutually exclusive, Suozzi said. The idea is to use the property as a multi-purpose space.
The last occupant added to the building's assets, leaving behind a new gymnasium, wiring for internet and a new boiler. There is also green space being preserved behind the building.
For now, the city is focused on getting the property in line with Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.
Possible solutions will continue to be discussed, according to Suozzi.
“All ideas are welcome,” he said.
2. Who wants to be that this building is given to yet another developer? 3. If there were any leaders here with vision, they'd consider giving the land to GC Boys and Girls Club and make that a real facility that is usable and adds some benefit to the kids who use it. Make this a community again and people will want to come here. 4. Am I the only one noticing how many for-sale signs are popping up all over the nicer parts of Glen Cove? Seems terrifying that young families who moved here would rather lose tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars than stay. Suozzi and the city council may have gotten themselves re-elected but I'd say that there's a general vote of no-confidence for any of these folks.
C Brody
On the other hand, it has been a school since its inception as a building, and has all of the tools to continue to be one. In order for the City of Glen Cove to make this building attractive to outsiders it would have to modify the property in order to be usable in other capacities. One role it would fill quite well, as has been previously posted, would be as a community center for the youth, or maybe even the mix of a community center and a park. There is ample green space in the back of the property and as was mentioned in the article Solomon Schecter went ahead and constructed a multi-purpose gymnasium. Additionally, there is a back entrance that opens up right into a residential neighborhood in Glen Cove, making it easy for the youth to access the building. Constructive posts help better the city we all claim to love, not facetious and sarcastic posts. Those just paint our city to be in a freefall and make its residents look even worse
http://youtu.be/60VIzqRlVaI
Then there's the whole "crazy grading on a curve" thing Bloomberg does in the NYC schools to make sure as many kids get shoved onto the next grade as possible, which resulted in my stepdaughter - a two-year straight A student - getting a 65 on the NY State Math Regents. There's some seriously major "WTF" stuff going on right now that affects the academic meritocracy of our nation, so don't blame everything on the individual. The bigger picture contains a fair share of malice and stupidity, not all of it coming from visible or obvious directions. However, we both already know that, don't we, John? Even if the people who put that witty and trenchant aphorism above the front door of the Coles School might have had no problem with your opinion, I'm VERY sure they wouldn't have liked your spelling or grammar. "Who dares to teach should never cease to learn", indeed.