Mineola wins $1.13 million state grant to renovate Village Community Center

Mineola Mayor Pereira announced that New York State awarded the village $1,133,000 through a pro-housing communities capital grant to renovate the Village Community Center.

The money will pay for new heating and air-conditioning, replacement windows, a new floor, updated classrooms and kitchen work, Mayor Pereira said. The community center — originally a school gym with a stage before conversion to village use in the 1990s — is used by senior programs, youth sports, recreation and community groups nearly year-round, the mayor said.

Mayor Pereira framed the renovation as addressing decades of wear and tear and expanding usable, climate-controlled space for groups that meet in the building. "We are going to put in new air conditioning, new heating, new windows, new floor, update the classrooms, update the kitchen, and really make the community center something that we can all be proud of," he said.

Trustee Clark and staff member Mr. Rivera were credited by the mayor for preparing the grant application and for outreach; Rivera also helped organize a recent community forum that brought county and state agencies together with local residents and business owners to discuss homelessness and quality-of-life concerns. Deputy Mayor Sartori called the forum "a first step" toward coordinated responses among agencies.

Mayor Pereira said the village will continue to seek additional grant funding to expand capital work at the center if more money becomes available. Officials did not specify a construction timeline in the meeting.

The board did not take a separate vote on accepting the grant during the meeting; the mayor presented the award as an announcement of state funding that the village will use for capital improvements.