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Step by step, new Nardin Academy sports complex moving forward

Nardin Academy took another step forward in its plan to build a new sports complex on its Cleveland Avenue campus.

The Elmwood Village school needs a lot of city approvals and permits to build its "dream" project: a full-size basketball court and space large enough to hold all of its 845 students.

"Our board has been careful to keep our standards of excellence high, certainly for academics and for the student experience, as well, which always entails updating facilities," said Nardin President Marsha Sullivan. "Currently, in our very large, very successful school, we do not have gymnasium with any bleacher seating."

The project has four zoning variances. One permit is blocked because the city Planning Board stalled site plan approval on Monday until there are some more decisions and agreements on the actual project.

Before the Comon Council Legislation Committee Tuesday was a special use permit.

"You may be asking yourself if Nardin school has been there over 100 years, Why do we need a special use permit for this project?" said lawyer Corey Auerbach. "However, under the Green Code now, primary and secondary schools require a special use permit. So, since we are proposing an expansion of facilities, it was determined that a special use permit would be appropriate."

Nardin has an unannounced fund drive underway for the new construction, as well as endowment and financial aid cash. If that goes well, construction would start in the spring and take about 14 months, putting it in operation for the fall of 2020.

Councilmember Joel Feroleto said the special use permit should go ahead.
 
"The Planning Board asked them to come back on that in two weeks, but today, just to be clear, all we are considering is special use permit," Feroleto said. "So today has nothing to do with what the Planning Board did yesterday to the site plan review. It's just from the Planning Board recommendation to recommend that the special use permit gets approved."

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.
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