Chelsea Piers, the Manhattan sports facility, officially crossed the river into Brooklyn last week and opened its new field house in Prospect Heights.
To celebrate the grand opening of the Chelsea Piers Field House Brooklyn on June 17, the athletics center invited the community to enjoy the new indoor facilities — which include two turf fields, a basketball half-court, a ninja and parkour obstacle course, an instructional pool and an Olympic-sized gymnastics zone — for free, and nearly 1,000 caregivers and kids took them up on it.
The opening celebration of the facility included a lunch, tours of the facility, a face-painting station and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We built this field house focused on our mission to harness the power of sports to instill a pursuit of excellence and determination in youth and families as a part of the Chelsea Piers mission,” Chief Operating Officer Jessie Betts Dreyfuss told the crowd.
In addition to coaches, caregivers and kids, Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, who represents District 9, attended to show her support.
“It’s a win-win — a win for Chelsea Piers and it's certainly a win for our community,” Clarke said in a speech.
The field house is down the street from the Chelsea Piers fitness center, which opened last month with state-of-the-art workout equipment. The field house also includes two party rooms for special events.
As part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Chelsea Piers announced a $1 million donation to establish the Chelsea Piers Foundation, a new initiative that will streamline the organization's efforts to provide scholarships and free swim lessons and other programming to youth in need.
As soon as the ribbon was cut, kids and their grown-ups went sprinting back to the fields and structures. Coaches assisted as children swung from rope swings and jumped into foam pits, bounced on trampolines, played catch, practiced gymnastic moves on the bars and balance beams and scored soccer goals and touchdowns.
Taylor Smart, a rising sixth grader who lives near Prospect Park, started gymnastics camp at the field house this week.
"Gymnastics places are usually very, very small, and they also don't usually have a soccer field," Smart, who also plays soccer, said. "So I'm very excited. This one is huge!”
“There’s nothing like seeing the satisfaction from both a child and a coach in achieving a new skill in achieving a new level of confidence and a sense of self — that’s really what youth sports is all about,” Erika White, the general manager of the Prospect Heights facility, told BK Reader.
White said her Chelsea Piers team had met with the local community board in order to make sure the new facility met the needs of local families.
Irsa Weatherspoon, the chairperson of Brooklyn Community Board 8, said the process went well and the board is happy about the new facility.
“I think this is going to be great for children because this is going to be a place where for some of them, they're going to learn what it is to be a team member,” Weatherspoon said.
“You're going to increase their esteem. They're going to be able to know what it is to work and play with others. They’re going to learn a lot of things that they won't realize until they get older. That will start here.”
Ama Weathersby, a Clinton Hill parent, said having a huge space for Micah, her 4-year-old, to safely play is going to be a game-changer.
“Oh my god, in this city, it’s everything,” she said. "We're super excited to have it here, so close to our house.”
Chelsea Piers Field House Brooklyn is located at 601 Dean St. The center is still enrolling for its summer camp and weekend programs. Learn more here.
