By EVAN NEMEROFF
Ashley and many other local children like her may lose the opportunity to use their favorite parks as County Executive Tom Suozzi laid out a plan to help reduce the county’s $150 million budget gap. The plan includes closing two local parks: Grant Park in Hewlett and Inwood Park in Inwood.
Ashley's mother, Annmarie Roth, said she would be sad to see the parks go, since she visits Grant Park every weekend during the spring and fall with her two daughters. “It would be a shame for the kids if the park were to close.” Roth said. “The parks are a great place for exercise and fresh air. I would be hesitant coming to the park if it was unmanned because I would always want someone available in case of an emergency.”
Grant Park has been part of the Nassau County park system since 1955. It is 35 acres with three basketball courts, four tennis courts, four handball or paddleball courts, three baseball or softball fields as well as soccer fields and a path for joggers and bicyclists.
The park also features a modern playground designed for three separate age groups: pre-schoolers, 4 to 8 year olds and 9 to 12 year olds. There are unreserved and reserved picnic areas to barbecue and a sled hill is open in the winter for the public to use. In the winter, a roller rink is transformed into an ice skating rink.
One school that uses the facility for athletics is the Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys in Woodmere. The school has been using the park for the past 10 years for junior varsity and varsity softball and uses the outdoor hockey rink for its hockey program. The school also rents out the park for faculty and students for Lag BaOmer, when families often go on picnics and outings, so they can enjoy a day of recreational activities.
“The possible closure of Grant Park would be terrible,” said Eli Brazil, director of student activities and recruitment. “It would be a major challenge to find other places to play because there is already a lack of parks as it is. It would be a tremendous disservice and truly be an injustice to close this park.” Brazil added that losing the park would limit the students’ ability to exercise and would be an inconvenience for the school and the community as well.
Another local organization the uses Grant Park is the Hewlett-Lawrence Soccer Club. The closing of the park would have a negative impact on the club's capability to schedule games for its intramural program. “It would be really bad for us if the park closes,” said Rod Leonhard, vice president of intramurals for the Hewlett-Lawrence Soccer Club. “We would have a difficult time finding a place for our teams to play because the county does not give us North Woodmere Park in the spring season. Many of our teams already use the Lawrence Middle School and it would be tough to pack most of the leagues onto one field in one day. The middle school is also a tough field for little kids to play on. We really need more fields for our program, not less.”
There are currently 500 children, ranging from pre-school to eighth-grade, in the intramural program for the Hewlett-Lawrence Soccer Club. The Midget Girls Division, with approximately 150 kids, uses the park in the fall and were expected to use it in the spring as well. The club planned for the third- and fourth-grade boys division to also use the facility in the spring.
Inwood Park is another park the county has under consideration for closure. The park has been used by local residents since 1956. The 16-acre park is surrounded by water that allows for boating, fishing and crabbing. The park also offers a lit athletic field for baseball and football, two basketball courts, two tennis courts and a lit roller rink open year round. There is also a jogging or walking path along the perimeter of the park by the water. For families with kids, there is a new playground as well as picnic areas to hold group barbecues.
“I would miss seeing the smiles on my kids' faces as they are swinging on the swing sets," Roth said. "I have lots of great family memories coming to these parks.”
Comments about this story? ENemeroff@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
