Elected officials and residents gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to usher in the new facility on Wednesday.
Richard Kaufman, Patch Staff
GREENWICH, CT — It was a momentous day for the Old Greenwich community and the town as a whole on Wednesday, as the new Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center officially opened its doors.
Elected officials and residents gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to usher in the new $25 million facility. Construction began in fall 2022.
"Today is a new chapter for our department," said Greenwich Parks & Recreation Director Joe Siciliano during the brief ceremony. "This is a great opportunity to provide high-quality programs to the residents of Greenwich, and we're happy about that."
The new building was built on the same footprint as the old one. It's one-story and around 35,000-square feet, and includes a full-size multi-use gymnasium with roll-out spectator seating; 8,100 square feet of multi-use event space; tennis/pickleball courts; three 1,000-square-foot activity rooms; an outdoor patio; playground; and other amenities.
"This was a great project to be a part of, and we're very excited to open the doors to the entire community to come and enjoy this facility," said Greenwich Director of Building Maintenance and Construction Luigi Romano, who also served as the project manager.
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The old civic center was built in 1950 as an employee recreation center for Electrolux. The town acquired the building and the 13.22-acre site in 1966.
Greenwich began to develop plans for a building rehabilitation in 2000, but in the years that followed, issues with the facility began to crop up which required immediate repairs.
After exploring existing conditions of the concrete structure, other problems were investigated such as space utilization, functionality and accessibility.
The lack of thermal insulation and air conditioning throughout the building, as well as a deteriorating subterranean plumbing system, were problems for years.
The town determined that a complete replacement made more sense.
First Selectman Fred Camillo said Wednesday that talks about replacing the civic center stretched as far back as the 1980s, but there were delays in coming up with plans for a solution.
"Let this be a shining example moving forward when we're doing projects to not slow things down. Ask questions, ask the right questions, but delaying ends up being more money," Camillo told the crowd. "I'm happy that future generations and people today can enjoy the beautiful, beautiful facility which enhances the quality of life for all that live here now, and serves as an attraction for those considering moving here."
The speakers on Wednesday thanked all those who were involved with design and construction work, as well as elected officials who helped move the project along towards completion.
They also thanked various donors for their generosity in making the project come to fruition, notably former state Sen. L. Scott Frantz and his wife, Icy, whom the gymnasium is named after, and the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation, which donated $5 million toward the project as part of a public/private partnership.
Camillo, a big proponent of such partnerships, said one of the first calls he received when he was elected as first selectman in 2019 was from Alex Cohen, who expressed a desire to partner on a new civic center for the community.
Steve Cohen is the founder of Point72 asset management, a hedge fund company headquartered in Stamford. He and his wife are Greenwich residents and also own the New York Mets. The couple was unable to attend Wednesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.
A lifelong New York Yankees fan, Camillo symbolically placed a Mets hat on the podium before his comments.
For more information on the Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, click here.