By: Jason Scheer
Included in the improvements to the park are a new state-of-the-art playground, an overhauled parking lot, a refurbished gazebo and picnic area, a renovated spray pool and new park benches.
The highlight of the construction, at least in the opinion of many Baldwin children, is the playground. The facility features interactive and multi-activity play equipment complete with slides, bridges, climbing webs, spinning wheels and monkey bars. The new playground is designed for youngsters between the ages of six and 12 and sits adjacent to the preschool play structure that was also recently installed.
Sabrina Crispyn, 7, visiting the park for the first time, spent time familiarizing herself with the playground. She came away satisfied, and smiling, too. "I really like it here," she said.
Crispyn's aunt, Janene Ciranni, was also impressed by the new facilities. "We love it," she said. "It's safe for the kids and the equipment looks great."
Ciranni also liked how the two playground areas were divided so that both her niece, Sabrina, and daughter Gina, 5, can enjoy age-specific areas of play.
With children on the playground, parents can rest in the refurbished wooden gazebo, located in the center of the park, with views of the fields, spray pool and playground area. Jennifer Guilfoyle was relaxing with her 5-year-old son Jack while watching the Baldwin Bombers youth football team practice. Guilfoyle and family prefer the new-and-improved Coes Neck Park to their regularly visited Baldwin Park on Grand Avenue.
"I think [Coes Neck] is a beautiful park," she said. "I didn't even know this park was here."
Stephanie Hammond echoed Guilfoyle's opinion. While growing up in Roosevelt, Hammond said she would often come to Coes Neck to play tennis. She eventually stopped coming when she moved to Baldwin and heard that the park had fallen into disarray.
"I had heard [the park] deteriorated and I was surprised when I heard about renovating it," she said. "Now, it's beautiful."
Her 9-year-old son, Jordan, will be the second generation of Hammond's to enjoy Coes Neck.
Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony Santino said he was excited that the park is a viable part of the community once again. "I am pleased to invite neighbors to rediscover this beautiful community park," he said.
Not everyone is satisfied with the park's renovations. Jackie Bell, president of the Baldwin Oaks Civic Association, said that the changes are good but fall short of the association's goal of making the park a place for everyone.
"The renovations have really helped aesthetically," she said. "However, we still have some issues because we've been complaining repeatedly about the basketball courts and the tennis courts which are still unusable."
She said that older residents who want to play on the courts still have to go elsewhere since those at Coes Neck are so deteriorated. Furthermore, she questions the town's approach, saying it's wasteful to put money into some areas of the park, when they'd have to dig a lot of it up at a later point in time. Instead, she wishes that all of the park received more attention and a larger financial allocation.
"Our money should be allocated, all of it at one time, not in pieces," she said.
