Supervisor Ed Wehrheim led three ribbon cutting ceremonies celebrating much needed park renovations in Nesconset and St. James. On Monday, the Nesconset community gathered to celebrate the renovations of Gibbs Pond Park. On Wednesday, the community in the hamlet of St James participated in the Gaynor Park and Veterans Memorial Park (Moriches Park) Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies. The Supervisor was joined by Town Councilman Tom McCarthy, Councilwoman Lynne Nowick, Councilwoman Lisa Inzerillo, Councilman Tom Lohmann, Legislator Leslie Kennedy, Legislator Rob Trotta, Comptroller John Kennedy, The Smithtown Parks Department, Public Safety Park Rangers, along with the Nesconset Chamber, Nesconset Civic, the Civic Association of Greater St James, the St. James Chamber of Commerce, and local Community members. All three parks hadn’t seen major repairs in more than 15 years.
“I made a promise when I was sworn in to bring our parks here in Smithtown back to their original charm. This is the start of fulfilling that promise, and nothing can make me happier than seeing our future generations enjoy our pristine parks like they are here today.” – Supervisor Ed Wehrheim
Renovations at Gibbs Pond Park included a brand new state-of-the-art playground, interactive playhouses, turf resurfacing, brand new fence around the children’s park, sidewalk, and landscaping. In 2019, a LED user friendly crosswalk is scheduled to be installed by the Traffic Safety Department, along with completely handicapped accessible washrooms. After the ribbon cutting ceremony, the Nesconset Civic Association served up Ray’s Italian Ices to the children and residents.
“We’re making long term investments, rather than patching up repairs, which cost three times the amount of taxpayer dollars than it would to modernize and maintain. These renovations at our parks and beaches gives back to the community our hard earned tax dollars and provides a quality of life that our fellow neighbors and family members expect, if not exceed.” – Councilman Tom Lohmann, Parks Department Liaison
Renovations at Veterans Memorial Park include new, soft surface installed in the waterpark. (This was at the request of parents who were complaining about scraped knees from the original concrete ground.) The playground has been completely renovated, resurfaced and fenced. Additional concrete sidewalks have been added, and the addition of an LED user friendly crosswalk is scheduled to be installed by the Traffic Safety Department, to be complete this year. An interactive spring rider has been donated by Lowe’s in Stony Brook, courtesy of Monica Welter (Lowe’s store Manager) and Frederick Coglietta (Lowe’s Exterior Sales.)
Renovations at Gaynor Park include two fully fenced in tennis courts, and basketball courts with new fence installation, as well as a brand new playground and picnic area with new and improved resurfacing, and a safety fence around the children’s park. The washrooms have been refurbished and will now be handicapped accessible. Brand new sidewalks, 10,000 square feet of fully irrigated sod, and new guardrails have also been installed around the park.
The three park renovations were completed with approximately $60,000 under budget. The balance will go towards repairs at various other parks throughout the township.