We have been analyzing, discussing, debating and arguing about what to do with St. Paul's for awhile. I believe that an unfortunate result of our stalemate/indecision will be demolition. It is with this in mind that I ask that we formally consider another option.

What if we built a recreational facility? An additional field house? This center would be a public use facility owned and operated by the village. How much does a building of similar construction to the current field house cost? Concrete blocks and a roof? Millions yes, but less than other options.

Let's start with a mile indoor track and all-purpose surface. Residents will have an indoor place to walk in the winter and numerous out-of-season sports like baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer, field hockey and football would have a place to go. We need at least two more basketball courts. I don't know if people realize that basketball at St. Paul's has grown from about 300 kids to over 900 kids in the last three years.

Our current basketball courts are at maximum capacity, don't provide even the smallest bleachers for fans and teams have 45-minute half court practices. We have a great swim team and it doesn't have a pool. One of our residents has built a wrestling program that is apparently one of the largest youth programs of its kind in Nassau County. A wrestling room would be a nice addition.

How about a rock climbing wall, batting cages and a health club? If we added a few rooms then we would have the opportunity to meet the needs of a senior center and a teen center. A room with pool tables, bumper pool and video games may keep our teenagers off Seventh Street, off Channel 12 and hopefully limit their opportunities to be involved in "undesirable activities." We would have more space for community group meetings, adult programs, dancing, yoga classes, karate classes, movies and more.

The above-mentioned possibilities are very reasonable. Not saying that we have to go crazy but other recreation centers have ice hockey, roller hockey, volleyball, boxing, skateboarding/inline skating parks and gymnastics. We should compare this option against other recreation centers in other communities.

Again, this center would be owned and operated by the village. Let's relocate the recreation department to have their offices located at our largest recreation facility. The village could receive revenue from running indoor soccer and lacrosse leagues where teams from other Nassau County towns would come to play. There may be organizations that would pay to use the track. If we added the health club, we may decide that residents pay an annual membership fee (like at the pool) for that service.

Other recreation centers generate revenue by hosting children's birthday parties. I'm sure that we can come up with ideas that would provide an additional revenue stream to offset ongoing costs. The fees generated from an indoor soccer league and an indoor lacrosse league alone could be significant.

How many more employees would we need to staff this building and these functions? How will this impact our taxes? How do nearby residents feel about this type of facility? Maybe we go with a couple of changing rooms instead of more expensive locker rooms to keep costs down. Maybe we don't want to impact local businesses that have health clubs and batting cages. What is the impact to our insurance if we have a rock-climbing wall? Do the cottages remain? Is a daycare center a part of this project?

Would it be possible to use the façade of the current building? If not, would we want to use the bricks and/or architectural style to keep the memorial to A. T. Stewart? Does the clock tower stay?

More questions may seem to complicate our situation. I believe that if we decided upon a recreation facility that these decisions should not be that hard. Would we have more traffic? Yes. Does this stop our young people from drinking? No. It also doesn't bring peace to the Middle East. But maybe it's a good idea, a cost conservative solution, and would be a bright spot in the middle of Garden City.

John Skramko

(Editor's Note: More than 100 people signed this letter in support but because of space limitations, the Life could not print all of the names.)