By JOSEPH KELLARD
The project would consist of collegiate baseball and softball fields for Molloy, a soccer field for the college and the OUSC, and a track encircling this field for the school district, in the southern part of the county park in East Rockaway.
³The county is interested in improving its property and facilities at the park to everyone¹s benefit,² said county Legislator Jeff Toback, who has had talks with the three parties involved.
Although it is in its earliest stages, the project as it is presently structured would have the county put up the land and Molloy, or possibly the village, pay for the construction of the fields and track. ³We may very well be funding a preliminary study to get a real cost estimate so that the other players and the county know what the reasonable expectation of the cost is,² said Toback, who added that the village hired a consultant to work with the county¹s parks department to map out a grand scheme.
With a membership of 1,300 players, the OUSC mainly uses the Oceanside School District¹s fields for its games. But even after the club was able to get the Town of Hempstead to build a new field at Oceanside Park, which opened earlier this year, the club is still in need of more fields.
³The problem is, so many people have been vying for the limited field space in Oceanside, predominantly by the school, and as our program grows, we need to look at other resources,² said OUSC President Brian Trager.
At Molloy, where most of the college¹s 25-plus acres are all in use, enrollment is ³bursting at the seams² and the college must find more space to build athletic fields, said Ed Thompson, Molloy¹s vice president for advancement. ³In general, we need space,² Thompson said. ³But while there have been some broad discussions about how we might all work together, this is all very preliminary, and is just one of a variety of options we are looking into.²
East Rockaway schools opted not to include a proposed natural sod track in an $18.7 million bond for upgrades and renovations that its board passed last March, so the county project may be the district¹s only other option to create another track for its students to use.
³We would embrace the entire concept, because it would be good for all the kids in our community,² said Superintendent Dr. Arnold Dodge. ³But specifically we would like to see a state-of-the-art track for our track experiences for our kids.²
Meanwhile, the OUSC faces problems with scarcity of space, even with its available fields. Next fall the Oceanside Middle School will close off its fields for renovation, as part of a bond project the district passed in 2003. This will push the OUSC to look for alternative fields on which to play its games. ³This coming fall, our intramural program is in jeopardy because of these renovations,² Trager explained. ³We run the risk of losing a major part of our program for that time period.²
Like Molloy, the OUSC is seeking other options in addition to the county project. Trager said there are few, but one is the town. ³We¹re going to begin to open up all avenues to see what we can do,² he concluded.
