Westchester County Center reopens for regular business after being used as a hospital and vaccination center during pandemic
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - It's a milestone on the road moving past the pandemic.
A site used as an overflow hospital and then a testing and vaccination center is finally getting back to business, hosting events.
At the Westchester County Center, every corner has been swept, and mopped, and every inch repainted.
For the first time since early 202, the Westchester County Center will be used for something not related to the pandemic.
"This is almost the completion of an era, the COVID era, which knocked this building out of usage and knocked us all off our game plan," said Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
Latimer says it feels like a turning point.
The center will host the Section 1 high school basketball tourney in a few weeks, which was last held there in 2020, just as the pandemic hit.
Not long ago, there were 56 hospital rooms on one floor of the facility, each wired for electricity, piped for oxygen, and equipped with a toilet and sink.
It was a pandemic precaution - the expected patient overflow never materialized. The center transitioned to a testing facility, and then a vaccination site.
"It really served a public service over the last few years, but it always served a public service. Now it will be back for basketball, concerts, shows, trade shows," said Deputy Parks Commissioner Peter Tartaglia.
Tartaglia says it has been quite a job getting the place ready. The temporary hospital destroyed the floor, which has been replaced.
The county hopes at some point the Westchester Knicks consider returing, and says interest in holding events there is strong.
"Local community events are already asking. We will have graduations back here, in the graduation season, so it's very exciting," Tartaglia said.
The art deco building, 93 years old, is getting back to its intended use.