The Salvation Army has won approval for a 24,000-square-foot chapel and community center on the site of its Prospect Avenue operation in New Cassel.
The center, which will include a chapel, multi-purpose rooms and a basketball court, will replace a rundown former bar and two residences on the property. There was moderate opposition from local residents concerned with increased traffic and the fact that the hamlet’s own community center, Yes We Can, is barely a half mile away.
Chris Coschignano and John Farrell, partners at Uniondale’s Sahn Ward Coschignano, represented the ministry before the Town of North Hempstead in obtaining the necessary variances and site plan approvals.
“The design draws its basic cues and scale from the gabled roofs of the surrounding residential neighborhood,” said Alex Badalamenti, CEO of BLD Architecture, which designed the three-story structure. “It’s a modern building with careful attention to detail in its use of traditional brick, steel and glass in exciting, innovative ways.”
He said the new structure will be “at rest” with the surrounding landscape and a great addition to efforts to revitalize the hamlet of 14,000, 15 percent of whom live below the poverty line.
