Tancy Rodriguez moved to the Norwood area four years ago. During her entire residence in the community, the Williamsbridge Oval Park recreation center, long known as a bustling hub of neighborhood activity and safe haven for local youth, has been closed.

“I want my son to enjoy the activities at the rec center, but it’s just not open,” she said during a “peaceful protest” outside of the closed center on a recent Friday afternoon.

Rodriguez and local activists from the volunteer group Friends of Williamsbridge Oval Park organized the protest, which doubled as an arts and crafts project for kids and adults. The protesters collaborated in creating signs calling for the re-opening of the center by the Parks Department.

The center shut down for renovations in April of 2010 and was initially scheduled to re-open in time for the summer of 2011. Multiple estimated completion dates for its re-opening have been repeatedly pushed back.

“It just kept on going on and on,” said Lis von Uhl, a fellow organizer. “We’ve seen very little work, and it just got to the point where enough was enough.”

In an email, Philip Abramson, a spokesman for the Parks Department, said the originally planned renovation of the center was actually completed last winter. But an additional infusion of $1 million allowed them to overhaul the center’s interior.

Abramson said those renovations include: “a brand new Computer Resource Center, 28 new pieces of fitness equipment totaling [$72,000], new lighting, new flooring, new sheet rock, new rubberized flooring for the fitness and stretching rooms, new cork flooring in the 2nd floor multi-purpose room, brand new locker rooms, new HVAC system, and a fresh coat of paint.”

While Abramson declined to comment on the reasons behind the delays or give an estimated completion date, he did say the work was in its “final stages.” A sign outside of the center said it would re-open in the fall.

A couple of candidates for the 11th Council District, which includes Oval Park, showed their support for the protesters and said the delays were unacceptable.

“I’ve heard that it’s been issues with money and the contract,” said candidate Cliff Stanton. “But at a certain point, it doesn’t matter. Just get the job done. If this was Central Park this would’ve been resolved years ago. Once again this is clearly a situation where the Bronx is getting the short end of the stick.”

Fellow candidate Andrew Cohen said the process for hiring a contractor should be reformed. “These kids are only going to be young once, and every summer that goes by where we don’t have the center, it’s a real loss,” he said. “We can’t make it up. I think that there has to be something in the contract that says instead of going with the lowest bidder, we should go with someone who can actually do the work and has a proven track-record.

The project is one of dozens supported by mitigation funds used to offset the building of the Croton Water Filtration Plant in Van Corltandt Park. Many of those projects are also delayed and over budget, according to a recent audit by the Comptroller’s office.

Rodriguez said it was all about having local activities to keep kids busy, “so they won’t be out in the streets.”

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally appeared in the Aug. 22-Sept. 4 print edition of the Norwood News. This is an extended online version of the same article.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.