Riverhead will cut the ribbon on the newly-refurbished soccer fields at Stotzky Park on Saturday morning, just in time for the beginning of the season for the youth soccer leagues that use them.
The Riverhead Town Board voted in March to spend $339,996 to revamp the fields, located on the north end of the municipal park.
The fields have now been fenced and the gates will be locked so that the fields will be used only for youth leagues, Councilman George Gabrielsen said.
Adults will be directed to new fields at the town park in Calverton, because the adult games took a toll on the fields at Stotzky, and their condition deteriorated, officials said this spring. The Calverton fields aren’t ready yet, though, because opening of the park there has been delayed. The new soccer fields, to be located east of the baseball and softball diamonds, have been staked out but not yet mowed, Gabrielsen said.
The entrance to the park is still being finished. The work was delayed by Hurricane Irene, Gabrielsen said.
The cost of the Stotzky Park project was funded by developer fees, not property taxes, Gabrielsen said. Developers are required to kick in a per-lot or per-unit fee upon subdivision or condominium map approval.
The sluggish economy has resulted in a depleted recreation fund, and payment for the Stotzky Park soccer field project would nearly exhaust what was in the fund, Gabrielsen said this spring.
The ribbon-cutting at Stotzky Park is scheduled for 10 o’clock Saturday morning.
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