By JOSEPH KELLARD
Among their options is a possible multi-level project that the school district, the OUSC and Molloy may enter together with Nassau County to build fields in Bay Park.
The project would create collegiate baseball and softball fields for Molloy, a soccer field for the college and the OUSC, and a track encircling that field for East Rockaway school athletes, in the southern part of the county-owned Bay Park in East Rockaway.
"The county is interested in improving its property and facilities at the park to everyone's benefit," said county Legislator Jeff Toback, who has had talks with the three parties involved.
According to the project's tentative plan, the county would provide the land and Molloy, or possibly the village, would pay for the construction of the fields and track. "We 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," said Toback, adding that the village hired a consultant to work with the county's parks department to map out a grand scheme.
At Molloy, where most of the college's 25-plus acres are in use, enrollment is "bursting at the seams" and the college must find more space to build athletic fields, said Ed Thompson, vice president for advancement. "In general, we need space," Thompson said. "But 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."
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 district's only other option for building another track for its students to use. "We would embrace the entire concept, because it would be good for all the kids in our community," said Superintendent Dr. Arnold Dodge. "But specifically, we would like to see a state-of-the-art track for our track experiences for our kids."
At present, East Rockaway does not hold any sanctioned events on its school track. The new venue would allow the school to host track and field events throughout the year.
With a membership of 1,300 players, the OUSC usually uses the Oceanside School District's 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. "The 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," said OUSC President Brian Trager.
Meanwhile, the OUSC faces problems with scarcity of space, even with its available fields. Next fall, the Oceanside Middle School will close 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. "This coming fall, our intramural program is in jeopardy because of these renovations," Trager explained. "We run the risk of losing a major part of our program for that time period."
Like Molloy, the OUSC is seeking other options in addition to the county project. Trager said there are few, but one is the town. "We're going to begin to open up all avenues to see what we can do," he said.
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