NEW ROLLER SKATING RINK COMING TO BROOKLYN!

Interior of Bedford-Union Armory in Crown Heights, where redevelopment is planned

A roller rink could be built in a vacant Crown Heights armory — recreating a beloved neighborhood institution that shut down five years ago.

The Daily News got an exclusive first look at a new report about redeveloping the Bedford-Union Armory — and a roller rink like Empire Roller Skating Center, which survived in the neighborhood for 66 years, is among the recommendations.

Numerous neighborhood residents said at a January town hall meeting about the shuttered Bedford Ave. armory that they want the defunct roller rink replicated there.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz — who grew up in Crown Heights and hung out at the Empire Blvd. rink as a teen — told the Daily News he’d love to see skating included in the 105-year-old armory’s cavernous Drill Hall.

“It would be a wholesome activity for children and families,” said Markowitz — though he confessed, “I was a horrible skater.”

The borough president has pledged $1 million in capital funding next year for the development of the historic armory, whose ownership is being transferred from the state National Guard to the city.

Other uses for the Drill Hall suggested in the report, which is being made public Tuesday, are a multipurpose community recreation center for sports ranging from basketball to badminton, or an events and entertainment venue.

The report, which grad students at New York University’s Wagner Capstone program did for free for Markowitz, suggested money for operating the armory could come from constructing apartments on the site of its one-story parking facility. The property would need to be rezoned.

There should be affordable housing included among the apartments, Markowitz said.

Researchers also recommended that a non-profit operator be chosen to run the armory. And they said a three-floor section of the building called the Head House should be used for community services such as after-school and seniors activities and workforce development programs.

“What we need for our community is a youth center and a place where seniors can go — where all of us can go and spend quality time together,” said Rabbi Jacob Goldstein, the chairman of Community Board 9.

The rabbi, who runs for exercise, hopes the redevelopment will include an indoor track for runners and walkers.

A makeover of the Park Slope Armory, which the report called “a great success,” could serve as a model for the Bedford-Union building’s rehab, the report’s authors wrote.

It can be viewed online at www.brooklyn-usa.org, the Borough president’s website.

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