By Helen Klein
Canned goods or kindergarten classrooms? That appears to be the question, as this paper has learned that the developer of the old Fortway Theater has entered into an agreement with a supermarket to open at the site, which had been identified, as far back as 2005, as a possible school location by the city’s Department of Education (DOE). In a phone interview. Spiro Geroulanos, the property’s owner, confirmed that he has signed a lease with a supermarket to open in the old theater building, 6722 Fort Hamilton Parkway. That supermarket, Geroulanos said, is part of a nine-store chain in the eastern U.S., and is expected to open on the first floor of the building within three to four months. “Construction is 99.9 percent complete,” reported Geroulanos of his renovation of the structure. Among the improvements he has made are the sub-division of the space into a first and second floor, and the creation of a sub-basement parking area, as well as replacing electrical wiring and plumbing infrastructure. Geroulanos is still trying to lease the second floor to, “A good tenant that will make us all happy,” he said. In renovating the old theater, Geroulanos was acting in accordance with what he had been told by DOE, said City Councilmember Vincent Gentile. While the agency had proposed in the fall of 2005 to build a 453-seat early childhood center at the site, to help relieve overcrowding in District 20, they had never made a commitment to it. Based on this, Gentile said that Geroulanos had been told by DOE that he should, “Proceed as if they were not there, because they hadn’t been able to commit to the proposal.” Geroulanos clearly took them at their word, and set about renovating the building and locating private tenants. Remarked Gentile, “What struck me when I went there and took a look at the extensive amount of work at the location – they already have refrigerators brought in for installation – is that it really would be a serious economic hardship for the owner of the property to give it up for a school.” Nonetheless, it seems DOE hasn’t given up on the site. Margie Feinberg, a spokesperson for the agency, said that, “According to the amendment which came out in November,” the early childhood center at the Fortway is in the DOE’s current capital plan. “It’s scheduled to start construction in December, 2007,” Feinberg reported, adding, “We have just started a design.” This may open a can of worms. While the school is, “A needed project,” according to Carlo Scissura, the president of the District 20 Community Education Council (CEC), DOE’s approach may not sit well with the community, he suggested. Scissura said that, while the CEC and the community board had supported the school proposal when it was first brought to them, “I’m not sure what will happen in the future. That will depend on how SCA pursues the site. “What angers me,” he added, “is that we brought the site to the attention of SCA and DOE when it was up for sale in January or February of 2004. They could have bought the property then, but they never did. Then, everybody would have been happy, but now it opens up a bit of a conflict. “I feel they wasted three years,” Scissura went on. “And, who suffers in the end? The kids. The kids are really suffering in cramped spaces. That site was supposed to be a boon for the community. Now, it’s a big question mark. It’s very frustrating.” City property acquisition, noted Josephine Beckmann, district manager of Community Board 10, is, “A slow-moving process. I don’t know how they can expect property owners to sit and wait,” she added Beckmann toured the site with Gentile a couple of weeks back. One question yet to be answered, said Gentile, is whether the tenant, “Is of such nature as to outweigh the benefits of having a school. Currently, it’s a commercial space. Do we want to keep it a commercial space? There are a lot of people in the community who do. There’s recognition that there’s need for a school, but there’s also a sentiment that the renaissance of Fort Hamilton Parkway would be better served with a commercial space. That’s an evaluation we have to make.” The City Council must still weigh in on the issue, added Gentile. That, he said, could take place in about a month. If the council does approve the school plans, Gentile said, “I imagine that DOE would try again to negotiate a price and failing that, rely on eminent domain.” As for Geroulanos, he noted, when asked about the BOE’s plans, “It’s hard for me to figure out what their interest is. I thought they weren’t interested in it. Now, they are revisiting it. At this point, I think, it just doesn’t make any sense. The project has gone so far along. The supermarket, which is what the community wanted, is locked in. And, it doesn’t put me in a good situation, because of all my effort and expense.”
