By The Numbers
250
Affordable homes, 10% set aside for formerly homeless individuals and families
Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center (Bedford Union Armory)
Location:
Crown Heights
Project Status:
Ongoing
Bringing a Vision to Life through Innovative Community Development
The Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center is New York City's first-ever comprehensive health and wellness community. The state-of-the-art, 60,000-square-foot Major Owens Center acts as a one-stop shop for one of Brooklyn's most historically underserved neighborhoods—bringing a long-held community vision to life.
The Major Owens Center offers affordable housing, recreational opportunities, and nonprofit space for the Crown Heights community, and honors the legacy of the late Congressman Major R. Owens—a longtime advocate and voice for the community. In his more than 50 years in public service–as a local information librarian, Community Development Agency commissioner, New York State Senator, and US Representative—Owens was an unwavering civil rights and disability rights supporter and promoter of social justice.
Community Impact
Major R. Owens
By The Numbers
60K
Square feet of multi-sport courts and a swimming pool
Indoor Swimming Pool
By The Numbers
10
Nonprofits coming to the Major Owens Center, providing educational, cultural, and healthcare services
Community and Sports Facility
By The Numbers
250
Affordable homes, 10% set aside for formerly homeless individuals and families
Indoor Swimming Pool
Major R. Owens
By The Numbers
10
Nonprofits coming to the Major Owens Center, providing educational, cultural, and healthcare services
By The Numbers
60K
Square feet of multi-sport courts and a swimming pool
Community and Sports Facility
A New Vision
The Major Owens Center is a focal point for community and culture that features:
- A state-of-the-art, 60,000-square-foot recreation center operated by The Boys’ Club of New York, with hardwood basketball courts, a competitive-length swimming pool, and a multi-purpose court able to accommodate a wide variety of sports and community programming
- Athletic facilities for local public schools and youth sports leagues
- Free and low-cost sports and fitness programming for the community
- A flexible space to host cultural events, as well as local civic and community meetings
- STEM classes and tutoring, LGBTQ support services, and additional cultural programming
- 415 homes, 250 of which are affordable for families of three making up to $58,000/year
A new, 60,000-square-foot recreation center
The Major Owens Center also offers affordable space to local nonprofit organizations, including:
- New Heights Youth
- Imagine Swimming
- Globall Sports Concepts
- Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy
- Digital Girl, Inc.
- Brooklyn Community Pride Center
- West Indian American Day Carnival Association
- James E. Davis Foundation
- Carey Gabay Foundation
- Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center
These organizations provide educational, recreational, and cultural opportunities along with career-development and healthcare services.
Major Owens Center community space
A Historic Site
The Major Owens Center, formerly the Bedford Union Armory, occupies nearly an entire city block in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, covering approximately three acres of land. Opened in 1908, the Armory was used by the US Army’s Cavalry Troop C for training and equipment storage, in addition to serving as a horse stable. When not being used for military purposes, the large, open space provided an excellent venue for sporting events and local community gatherings. Sometime after 2008, Congressman Owens, then a professor at nearby Medgar Evers college, began to envision a future for the Armory as a full-time community center with recreational opportunities and gathering spaces for Crown Heights. Along with his students and other stakeholders, he built local support for the idea. The military decommissioned the building in 2013, and the City of New York took ownership of the site.
Opportunity for Change
In 2013, local elected officials asked NYCEDC to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to redevelop the vacant site and transform it into a space for housing, jobs, and the community. After years of extensive engagement with residents, business owners, elected officials, and other local stakeholders to better understand the needs of the Crown Heights community, it was evident that residents shared Congressman Owens’s desire for an institution that would positively support the vibrant communities of Crown Heights and greater Central Brooklyn.
Specifically, the community expressed the need for affordable recreational opportunities for all ages (including a swimming pool) and space for local nonprofits to offer cultural, educational, and healthcare services. With the community’s ideas in mind, in 2015 NYCEDC selected a proposal from Bedford Courts LLC, an affiliate of BFC Partners, that most closely aligned with this vision for the future of the site.
Having these community organizations under one roof will change lives. This place will strengthen the community, strengthen families, and offer youth the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Geoffrey A. Davis
Executive director, James E. Davis Foundation
The Major Owens Center represents the culmination of a years-long effort by the Crown Heights community to honor and cherish the past, while bringing to fruition its vision for the future—where a new generation will create their own memories and build closer connections to the community and to each other.
See Our Progress
View photos showcasing the past, present, and future of the new Major Owens Center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn
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The Major Owens Center basketball courts
Learn more about the project and how you can get involved.
