Five Towns Community Center camp closed, parents receive refunds
In the weeks before the Five Towns Community Center’s lease with Nassau County expired last month, parents were still submitting deposits for the center’s summer camp for their children.
In July, before the county sent out a letter explaining that the camp no longer had a permit to operate at the center in Lawrence, Gwynn Campbell, president of the center’s board of directors, said that the camp would continue operations. The county assumed control of the building on July 3, when the lease expired.
The county issued the letter on July 16, offering children who were enrolled in the camp the option of attending the county Summer Recreation Program at Cantiague Park in Hicksville, with bus transportation between the center and the park, at no additional cost. The program ended on Aug. 8.
On Aug. 1, the county began sending out refunds to those who chose not to attend the county program.
“Parents did receive money back if they chose not to enroll their child in the camp the county offered,” Mallory Montalban, a parent and teacher at the community center’s Head Start program, said. “I still strongly blame our board president for this happening, and for waiting too late to actually try and even attempt to save anything.”
Both the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC, in Cedarhurst, and the Lawrence school district responded to a county request for proposals last year, submitting bids to operate the 5.7-acre community center site on Lawrence Avenue. The county has yet to make a decision on the facility’s future.
“Until a decision is made by Nassau County regarding the future use of that site, there is always a glimmer of hope,” Stacey Feldman, executive director of the Gural JCC, said, adding that she had not heard from county representatives.
“We found out that Blakeman put out an RFP for someone to come in and lease the building for another 25 years,” Campbell wrote in a July 30 letter to the community, referring to County Executive Bruce Blakeman. “To submit a bid, you need at least $5 million to do repairs.”
Campbell wrote that she had been hoping that Blakeman would “do the right thing” and choose the Gural JCC, which had previously asserted that it would be able to operate independently, and continue the services it has offered for the past half-century.
Blakeman had given the center an extension until Aug. 2 to allow its employees to leave the building, and had posted sheriffs on the property, according to the letter.
“Campbell signed a deal with the county about everyone leaving by Aug. 3, and thought she was going to be able to sit in the building despite the document she signed,” Montalban said.
“The next time you vote to elect or re-elect someone to office, ask yourself what has this individual done for you lately,” Campbell wrote, referring to Blakeman.
There were no complications with the refunds for the families whose children did not attend the county program at Cantiague Park. “We were able to get money returned — at least a little success for families in our area,” Sasha Young, a former community center employee, said.
As of press time, the county had not returned calls seeking comment.
Have an opinion on what should be done with the Five Towns Community Center property? Send a letter to
jbessen@liherald.com.
