Part of the Queens stadium complex that’s home to the U.S. Open will be transformed into a temporary hospital to aid in the fight against the coronavirus.
An indoor training area at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is expected to be turned into a 350-bed medical facility beginning on Tuesday, USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier confirmed.
The site will likely be used to treat non-COVID-19 patients, but that could change based on need, according to a spokesman for New York City’s emergency management office, which is working on the project with the Army Corps of Engineers and state officials.
The facility’s Louis Armstrong Stadium will be converted into a commissary where 25,000 meal packages will be prepared daily for COVID-19 patients, healthcare workers, public school children and others who need them, said Widmaier.
“We’re here to help and if our site in Queens is utilized to help New Yorkers, we’re all for it,” he said.
The plans were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The legendary tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is still slated to begin Aug. 24.
“Our greatest hope is that the U.S. Open will take place as scheduled at end of August and that New York will once again welcome the world,” Widmaier said.
As cases of COVID-19 continue to swell and hospitals become overwhelmed, the city and state have also turned to the federal government to add more bed space for victims of the virus and other patients.
Manhattan’s Javits Center has been turned into a 2,910-bed facility with the help of the Army Corps of Engineers. And the 1,000-bed USNS Comfort hospital ship arrived in New York Harbor on Monday morning.