Trade school, youth group to be housed at old Freeport Armory, mayor says
Freeport's former Armory property, seen in March, 2019, is now home to a child care center. Credit: Jeff Bachner
Freeport officials have awarded a contract for the second phase of rehabbing the village's former armory as new tenants prepare to move in.
Officials awarded a contract on May 15 to Talty Construction Inc. of Rockville Centre for $509,300 to transform 6,000 square feet of the former National Guard site and state Division of Military and Naval Affairs into an area for a trade school, Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy said. The 3-acre property, which housed the organizations until 2011, is now home to a child care center.
The village is currently interviewing companies to operate the school, which will likely offer training for trades like plumbing, electric work, welding and air conditioning, Kennedy said.
“I just believe that this trade school is an asset to the entire community,” Kennedy said. “There's not enough trade schools out there. We need to provide the opportunity for our children and many, even the older generation, who have children, who need to get a trade.”
The school section of the building needs to be fully gutted, he said, with new walls, doors, floors and ceiling. Contractors should begin work in the coming weeks. It will likely open in January, Kennedy said.
The next phase of the project is also underway.
The mayor said Rising Stars Youth Foundation will occupy about 10,000 square feet of the old drill hall and is also building a sports complex. The Uniondale nonprofit offers academic and sports programs to youth and should open in September, Kennedy said.
The organization will pay more than $10,000 monthly to the village, the mayor said, adding he wasn't at liberty to discuss the details of the agreement. The nonprofit didn't respond to a Newsday inquiry about the move.
A child care center was the repurposed armory’s first tenant and opened in 2021. The village obtained ownership of the former military building in 2019 after former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed a bill granting ownership to Freeport. The building sat vacant for a decade.
The updated armory should net the village about $250,000 annually from license agreements for using the space, Kennedy said.
Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.
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