This paper will suggest a plan for the utilization of the Owen Dolen Recreation Center as a shared space for community, cultural, and commercial enrichment through programs, events, and activities, some geared to the changed demographics of the Westchester Square-Zerega community and the merchants of the Square and some with a wider, borough-wide scope (provided through a partnership with the Bronx Council on the Arts) to attract people into the area. It will also identify organizations to run, fund, and organize these programs (in addition to whatever programs are run by the Department of Parks and Recreation). Last, it will discuss a “grand plan” for the Square beyond Owen Dolen Center to be looked at for the future, including the relocation of the BCA offices in the Owen Dolen Center and a possible children’s museum at some point in the future. The challenges the utilization of this valuable space present will be discussed, and suggested implementation of programs by a partnership among several important stakeholders outlined.
Owen Dolen Park and Center is centrally located and surrounded by the Westchester Square commercial district, which is a transportation hub, with thousands of people passing through every day. It is at the crossroads of several schools, one of which is among the largest high schools in the borough. It is also 1 of the only 2 open/park spaces available to this largely underserved community of 6,400+ residents. For these reasons, the condition and utilization of this space (which is already designed as a community/recreation space) has a profound effect on the Square and its commercial and residential communities, as well as those communities surrounding it. Owen Dolen Park and Recreation Center is the “heart and centerpiece” of Westchester Square. In its current condition it has been an eyesore, a focus of illegal activity and a barrier directly in the way of the progress of the proposed BID for Westchester Square. Any future commercial/community development will succeed or fail depending on the condition and utilization of this key piece of the puzzle.
INTRODUCTION
The Owen Dolen Recreation Center is located in the old Westchester Square Public Library Building, and part of the building is also the District 9 offices for the Department of Parks. Approximately a dozen years ago the Center and Park were renovated. The building was made into a Parks Dept Recreation Center, and has had senior programs, after school homework help, and programs for children with special needs (REACH). Several years ago a youth center was located there, which drew its membership from around the Northeast Bronx.
However, more recently, both the Park and Center have been in decline.
Those programs at the Center are often poorly publicized and attended, and the surrounding park is in such disrepair it has been condemned. Indeed, the park has become a potent visual symbol of the decline and decay of Westchester Square; urban blight in our very midst.
