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| | | Stuart Besen alongside a goal post at the nearly finished Phase One of Veterans Park on Bellerose Avenue, East Northport — also soon to be the home of a planned skateboarding park. Courtesy Lynn Ruvolo (click for larger version) | |
May 07, 2009 | 12:33 PM
The Town of Huntington on April 7 awarded contracts for two California companies to build a $420,000 concrete skateboarding facility inside Veterans Park, where phase-one construction is nearly complete.
SITE Design Group will design and California Skate Parks will construct a 10,000-square-foot skating track, to be surrounded by an additional 5,000 square feet of landscaping inside the East Northport park.
Laser Industries of Ridge has been hired to do preliminary site and drainage work.
The town plans on presenting two potential designs at a public workshop at Town Hall on Thursday, May 7, from 6 to 8 pm before a committee tasked with advising the town on this matter, said Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, who has led the project.
The final design should be unveiled Saturday, May 16 — also known as "Lenny Lamb Day" — at the skate park in Greenlawn Memorial Park, which Greenlawn resident Lenny Lamb, a 13-year-old boy who was killed with his father in a motorcycle accident in 2007, was known to frequent.
East Northport resident Joe Mannix, a member of the new skateboard park committee, explained the difference between the two skateboarding facilities. The five-year-old Greenlawn skate park consists of an above-ground, modular ramp made from resin and pressed board, he said. "But the benefit of a concrete park is that they're safer parks."
Concrete parks also required little maintenance, said Mannix, an avid skateboarder for more than 30 years who now skates alongside his teenaged sons. "And the kids, actually, become much better skateboarders, better athletes. … It raises the bar of skateboarding."
Construction of the new facility will take place over the summer, with completion expected in September, Cuthbertson said. "It's going to be one of the first concrete skate parks on Long island, and a state of the art facility, so we're very excited by that," he added.
Describing skateboarding as a terrific alternative for kids who are not into organized sports, Mannix has lobbied for four years to get a concrete park built within Huntington township.
There is a concrete park in Montauk, but it is rather crudely built, he said.
Mannix expressed delight over the awarding of bids, calling California Skate Parks and SITE Design Group two of the best companies in the industry worldwide. "This is going to be an amazing thing," he said. "It's better to have a safe place to skate. Wouldn't you rather have them in a skateboard facility? There's less wear and tear on park benches — or anywhere they shouldn't be."
With skateboarding as one of fastest growing sports around, Northport's Steve Zacharevitz — a committeeman for both local skate parks — noted the need for a second venue because the Greenlawn track gets very crowded at times.
"What if you only had one baseball field in town? One tennis court?" he said.
Phase One of Veterans Park
Finishing touches are going into the two synthetic fields of Veterans Park, Councilman Stuart Besen reported.
The lights are in and the fields should be ready for play by the fall, if not sooner, he said.
"It's a much-needed facility," he said. "Northport Football, Northport Soccer and Northport Lacrosse will be able to play on the synthetic field."
Mike Cogan, who has served as a liaison between Huntington's 288-member coed adult soccer league, said his eight teams will make good use of the new fields.
"I think it's better than fried ice cream," said Cogan. "It's long overdue."
Excessive play on grass fields puts too much wear and tear on them, Cogan noted.
"If you play a game of soccer in the pouring rain [on grass], the field has all ruts and mud patches in it for weeks. ... If you play on a synthetic field in the rain, tomorrow the field is perfect again," he said. "With all those adults running around, trampling on those fields, now we can add in all the Northport youth football players, all the Northport youth soccer players, all the Northport youth lacrosse players, running around tearing up the field and the fields are still going to be in perfect shape every day."
Construction of Mr. P's Boundless Playground, the first handicapped-accessible playground of its kind allowing access by children of all abilities in Suffolk County — should be completed by year's end, Besen said. The park is named for Northport-East Northport school district's retired Dickinson Avenue School teacher Chris Pendergast, who has lived with Lou Gehrig's disease for the past 15 years or so.
Encompassing a total 80 acres, Veterans Park will contain 20 acres of active park — with synthetic fields and playgrounds — and 60 acres of passive park, including nature and hiking trails.
"We're actually using a GPS system to mark out trails," said Besen. "We've been doing it for about a year now."
The second phase of construction, scheduled for 2010-11, will include baseball and softball fields, said Besen, who said the project addresses the tremendous need for playing space, not only for youth but also for adult sports leagues.
"I love the fact that the park has both an active athletic field, and it also has a passive area where people could just contemplate or see nature, walk, or hike with family," he said. "I think that we've made good use of the land for people who want organized sports or leisurely activities."
At a cost of $9 million for the development and construction of phase one and for development of phase 2, the town plans to protect its investment with a security station inside Veterans Park.
"Obviously we've invested a lot of money in the park and we're going to monitor it and keep security there as much as possible," Besen said. "Plus the fact the that it's going to be an active area will also reduce vandalism and people just hanging out drinking."
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