Cromwell Center: A community gem | Then and Now

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — After 74 years, the George Cromwell Recreation Center in Tompkinsville, a 3.5-acre complex built atop an 11-year-old pier that opened in 1936 as part of a Works Progress Administration project, became a historical footnote in 2013. The center was demolished after weeks of being scooped apart by a power excavator.

Though Cromwell might be remembered best for the slam dunks and free throws that were scored on its many basketball courts, the public facility also hosted track meets, fitness classes and clubs, theater programs, and craft classes.

The center was named after Staten Island’s first borough president, born in 1860, who came to Staten Island in the 1880s and died in 1934. He served as borough president from 1898, when the five boroughs were consolidated as New York City, until 1913. He also served in the state Assembly and became the Richmond County Parks Commission president in the 1890s.

THE NEW CENTER

Directly across the street from the original center, Mayor Adams, the city Department of Design and Construction and the NYC Parks Department recently broke ground on the $92 million Mary Cali Dalton Recreation Center on Staten Island to replace the lost facility.

“This center will be a gem of the Parks system, offering North Shore residents a variety of recreational amenities and a wealth of programming right in their community,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “We’re thrilled that the facility will feature solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations, and the design-build process employed for this project will allow it to be completed two years faster than usual.”