By Emma Barhydt
It was standing room only at the Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center on Wednesday, April 9, as residents packed the lobby to witness the ribbon cutting for the long-awaited community hub decades in the making.
The ceremony opened with remarks from Luigi Romano, Building Superintendent for the Department of Public Works. “This is a great project to be a part of,” Romano said. “It really turned out beautiful… To provide the community with a facility of this caliber is truly rewarding.” He credited the architectural teams, town volunteers, construction staff, and generous donors. “Thank you to all our donors for their contributions,” he said. “Without them, this project would not have taken this monumental step forward.” Romano also offered specific thanks to the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, whose donation helped make the center a reality.
First Selectman Fred Camillo followed Romano, recalling the pivotal call he received shortly after taking office in 2019. “One of the first calls I received was from Alex Cohen,” Camillo said. “She said, ‘I hate driving by this building,’ because it was falling apart.” Camillo explained that after years of failed attempts to replace the outdated center, Cohen’s offer came with one stipulation: “Build it.” And they did.
Camillo charted the long journey of the project. “This is something that’s been talked about since the 1980s. There used to be a gym back there—I played in a basketball league in the winter twice a week. There was a bowling alley here. It really served its purpose, and it was great while it lasted, but that’s 40 years ago.”
He pointed out that about 30 years ago, a committee formed by the then-First Selectman and Tom Ragland outlined plans for a new facility. “About 80 percent of what they suggested then is in this building now,” he said. He warned against delay in future projects. “Let that be a lesson, because this costs a lot more money, right?”
Camillo then listed the many supporters and donors, including Scott and Icy Frantz, the Old Timers Athletic Association, and the Gibbons and Rogers families. He acknowledged longtime advocates and public servants like Scott Johnson, praising his efforts over the past 25 years: “He’s been instrumental in almost any good thing that’s happened in Parks and Recreation.”
Parks and Recreation Director Joe Siciliano closed the formal program. “Today is a new chapter for our department,” he said. “The opportunity to have. He also highlighted the work of the building committee: “These are folks that put in hours, enormous amounts of time, hours and hours, dealing with… from right from the beginning, picking the color palette to being part of the construction and supporting the department and the Town through the approval process.”
When the speeches ended, applause filled the lobby, and the official ribbon was cut. Residents streamed inside, spreading out to explore the bright, updated interior. Pickleball players headed straight for the newly painted courts, while others tested their jump shots on the refurbished basketball hoops. Attendees wandered into spacious activity rooms, envisioning everything from kids’ tumbling classes to adult painting workshops.
It was in this relaxed, exploratory moment that Recreation Supervisor and building manager Andrew Karen spoke with visitors and answered questions about what’s next for the facility.
“So the building right now opens up at 9:00 AM,” he said, explaining the building’s soft opening for the time being. “What we’re going to do, I want to be very clear about this. This is a completely new space with new offerings and it’s not fair to pin it to any other facility.”
Karen emphasized that programming decisions would be driven by the public: “We’re going to be listening, we’re going to be listening to what the community needs are. I can put in here and say, I want to do this, but if it’s not what the community needs, then we’re doing a disservice. So we’ll look, well, we may in our heads think that this is how it’s going to work. The only way to try is by trial and error. So we’re just asking for the community to be open with us here in these first months.”
He acknowledged the transition wouldn’t be without its hiccups. “Listen, when you open up a new facility, it’s inevitable to have some bumps in the road and learning curves, but with every curve you learn and then you adapt.”
Karen outlined the variety of activities already in motion and on the horizon. “Whether you’re coming with your grandkids for tiny tumblers, dropping, pickleball, volleyball, open, gym, a meeting, whatever the case may be, this building has a little bit of something for everyone. How many hours we can keep it busy and how we can keep it busy with different activities.”
Karen excitedly ran through more possibilities, “We thought of things that we could do that other rec departments have that and everybody’s doing, stuff like that. And obviously pickleball and volleyball, and we have so many ideas. We’re looking at youth pickleball as something that we want to explore in the wintertime. We’re going to have indoor baseball clinics here, indoor softball. We’re going to do an indoor track program, which is, we’re still figuring out how that’s going to work out. But that’s the thing, nothing’s off the table. Everything will come. We’ll look at it and listen.”
When asked what he was most excited about, Karen answered simply: “New memories.”
By the time the crowd gathered on the front steps for a commemorative photo, the center was already doing what it was built to do: bringing people together. With its doors now open and its programs ready to evolve, the Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center begins its life not as a monument, but as a living space — shaped by the people it was built to serve.
