The long-awaited replacement of the Wading River beach playground is set to take place over the next two weeks, along with the installation of another new playground near the ballfields at Veterans Memorial Park in EPCAL.
The cost of both playgrounds will be covered by existing funds in the town’s parks and recreations budget. $50,000 has been budgeted for the playground at Wading River beach and $40,000 for Veterans Memorial Park.
The new playground at Wading River beach will replace the deteriorating facilities that were recently removed following damage from storms and hurricanes. “All the nor’easters killed it,” said Raymond Coyne, town recreation superintendent, at the town board work session today.
The playground at Veterans Memorial Park will be installed between the ballfields that opened on the property in 2013, where Riverhead Little League holds its games and practices. “This way, mothers watching Little League can watch their kids on the playground at the same time,” Coyne said.
The new playgrounds at Wading River beach and Veterans Memorial Park will be installed within the next two weeks, he said.
Coyne also hopes to replace the aging playground at the George Young Community Center in Jamesport this summer. He is currently in the process of ensuring the funds are available in the parks and recreation budget.
“They desperately need this playground,” Coyne said at the meeting today. “Right now it’s from something like 1980. They ask every year and I think we can finally do it from them.”
Improvements are also coming this summer to Horton Avenue Park, where the Stop the Violence basketball tournament is held each summer, drawing hundreds of spectators and participants.
An electronic scoreboard, estimated to cost about $4,000, will be purchased with funds to be donated by Columbia Care, according to Town Councilwoman Jodi Giglio. Coyne said today that the scoreboard should arrive in time for the tournament, which is scheduled for August 12 and 13.
Other upgrades, including improvements to the basketball court’s backboards, will cost an additional $4,500. The tournament’s founders plan to contribute about $2,000 to that with money they have fundraised. The rest of the money will come from the town’s parks and recreation budget.
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