Renovations at Roberto Clemente's Pool Still Not Finished

The pool at Roberto Clemente State Park in Morris Heights is still undergoing renovations, which started last year. (File photo, Mount Hope Monitor)

While most public pools will open at the end of this month (City-run pools are slotted to open on Tuesday) swimmers near Roberto Clemente State Park will have to find somewhere else to cool off--for the second year in a row.

Local residents were irked last year when the park's Olympic-sized swimming pool was closed for the summer to start renovations, which were supposed to take only 12 months. But construction is still going on, according to Rachel Gordon, a regional director with the State Parks Department. She had no estimates for when the project would be finished.

"It's nowhere near ready," said Leon Johnson, president of the nearby apartment complex River Park Towers, and a Community Board 5 member. "They’re talking about August, they’re talking about October. Nobody swims in October. From what I could see, it may be time to close the pool by the time it opens."

Gordon said the project was ongoing because the renovations--which include new locker rooms, a new spray park, and adding a sloping floor to the main pool to allow diving--are so extensive.

"It's a huge, huge, huge job," she said. "They did an enormous amount of work. The improvements are absolutely dramatic."

But Johnson said the new additions would do little to appease neighborhood residents looking for a place to stay cool.

"It's going to be a hot summer," he said.

Bronx Events Through Thursday, Dec. 17

A piece of photograhy from the 'Childhood in the Bronx' website.

Lehman College recently created an artistic website exploring, 'Childhood in the Bronx.' The online project was funded by a grant from the Metropolitan New York Library Council and exhibits photographs of Bronx children in schools, playgrounds and community centers that date back to the first decades of the twentieth century. View the work at www.lehman.edu/library/childhood-bronx.

Check out the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music's final two Winter concert series performances on Wednesday, Dec. 16th, and Thursday, Dec. 17th. Both performances feature different choirs and orchestras and are held at 7 p.m. at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Blvd. Tickets are a suggested $5 donation. For more information, please call (718) 329-8550.

The University Neighborhood Housing Program is hosting a Homeowner Resource Fair on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at the Concourse House, 2751 Grand Concourse, from 6 to 8 p.m. Topics to be discussed include how to lower your energy costs and how to modify your mortgage. The fair will also give away free weatherization kits and free food. Supplies are limited. For more information or to RSVP, call (718) 933-2539.

Community Board 5’s next general board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at South Bronx Jobs Corps, 1771 Andrews Ave. All are welcome. For more information, call CB5 at (718) 364-2030 or e-mail brxcb5@optonline.net.

The 46th Precinct’s next Community Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the precinct station house, at 2120 Ryer Ave., at 7 p.m. Community council meetings fall on the on the third Tuesday of every month. They give residents the chance to meet local police officers and air their concerns. For more information, call (718) 220-5234.

The Office of the Bronx Borough President is holding a briefing on overcrowding in Bronx schools and the new 5-year capital plan, on Dec. 14 at 6 p.m., at the Bronx County Courthouse at 850 Grand Concourse. Leonie Haimson of “Class Size Matters” will give a presentation. A discussion will follow. All are invited to this free event. For more information, call (718) 590-3500.

Bronx Events Through Nov. 19

A glimpse of Puerto Rico

Help the Bronx celebrate Puerto Rican Heritage Month with non-stop live music and a showing of parts of a new musical play called Aloha Boricua about the first Puerto Ricans to set foot on the Hawaiian Islands. The event will be held Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m. at the Pregones Theater at 575 Walton Ave. Seating is free, but limited. To RSVP please call (718)590-3522. Hors d'oeuvres will be served.

The University Neighborhood Housing Program is offering a free course in finance at the Concourse House, 2751 Grand Concourse, Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m., Nov. 18 to Dec. 16. It will cover banking, goal setting, budgeting, debt management, credit, and more. Upon completion of the course, students will receive a certificate that can be used at any credit union to open a savings account. RSVP by calling (718) 933-2539.

Bronx BP Ruben Diaz, Jr. is hosting the Bronx Economic Summit: A Blueprint for Success, Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New York Botanical Garden. At the summit, Bronx merchants and businesses will join together to discuss future business plans, job training, cultural organizations, forming a green economy and unemployment. Register for the event at http://events.boedc.com/registration-form.

Echo Park's farmers market is coming to a close. This Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. will be the last chance to get your pick of vendors' fresh fruits, vegetables, and baked goods. The market is in the southwest corner of the park, along East Tremont Avenue. Food stamps are accepted. For more information, call Annie Moss at (718) 901-2849.

Community Board 5’s next general board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at South Bronx Jobs Corps, 1771 Andrews Ave., in the auditorium. All are welcome. For more information, call CB5 at (718) 364-2030 or e-mail brxcb5@optonline.net.

The 46th Precinct’s next Community Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at the precinct station house, at 2120 Ryer Ave., at 7 p.m. Community council meetings fall on the on the third Tuesday of every month. They give residents the chance to meet local police officers and air their concerns. For more information, please call (718) 220-5234.

Tonight: A Meeting Regarding St. Barnabas' Expansion

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St. Barnabas Hospital is planning to build a 10-story health center at 2050 Grand Concourse. Mount Hope residents will be asking questions and airing their concerns at a meeting tonight with hospital executives, at St. Simon Stock School.

A number of residents strongly oppose the hospital's expansion. They feel that St. Barnabas has failed to ask the local community whether or not this health center's needed or wanted. Other concerns include asbestos at the site, and the fact that it's going to be four of five stories taller than anything in the area.

This anger escalated into a minor fracas at March's Community Board 5 meeting, during which opponents of the project constantly interrupted the chair and district manager (both of whom support the project), repeatedly used the "f word," as one board member put it, and generally disrupted proceedings.

Those in favor of the new facility, say that it will bring much needed health care services to the Mount Hope area. It's bring jobs, too, they say, and may help invigorate the Burnside Avenue shopping corridor.

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. The school's located at 2195 Valentine Ave. All are welcome.

Pictured above and below, is what currently stands at 2050 Grand Concourse. This long-abandoned and boarded-up masonic temple is in the process of being torn down.

Community Board 7 meeting on special night

Usually reserved for the third Tuesday of the month, Community Board 7's general meeting in September will happen to tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Bedford Park Senior Center, 243 E. 204th St.

The first meeting since June's elections should be action packed as the board has lots to discuss, including rezoning options that would make way for proposed developments, new bi-law amendments and possibly news about the search to fill the Board's vacant district manager position.

[By the way, that link above sends you to a new story now on the sparkling new Norwood News Web site. We hope you're as excited about it as we are. Here's another link to the site just for fun!]

Another note on the Board meeting. Council candidate Haile Rivera (14th District), who has been showing up in this space often over the past few weeks, sent out an email press release today saying he would be going to all CB7 meetings and most of the CB5 meetings (he has a scheduling conflict), "because I care of the issues in my community and I want to do something about them. There is no better source to know what the issues are then to hear them directly from those affected."

We've been trumpeting the value of local Community Boards for years and elected officials generally pay attention to what happens there, but it's nice to see someone else echoing us. Check it out for yourself at the meeting tonight.

New Stories on the WBNN and the Mount Hope Monitor

The West Bronx News Network and the Mount Hope Monitor have been updated. Stories include:

Construction of Track and Field Facility Underway
Local elected officials and city representatives presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for an interim track-and-field facility on December 16. The interim track, just west of the existing Yankee Stadium, will serve as a replacement for Joseph J. Yancey Track and Field, which was torn down to pave way for construction of a new stadium. The ceremony came at a time when the city had come under fire because of a delay in providing the community with a replacement track.

Dependent Housing Projects Raise Community Board’s Hackles
Community Board 5 is concerned about the large number of dependent housing facilities in the district. "We're getting inundated," said district manager Xavier Rodriguez.