Town: Home Depot to help fix up Wading River park
It appears Riverhead Town will receive assistance to spruce up Police Officers Memorial Park in Wading River, which some officials say has fallen into disrepair in recent years.
Councilman Tim Hubbard said Home Depot, which has a store on Route 58 in Riverhead, has offered to help fix up the site formerly known as Bayberry Park.
“Home Depot is going to come down with a work force and do a makeover on the park,” Mr. Hubbard said, adding that work is expected to begin this month. “We met them down there and they went through the park and looked at different things they can do.”
Projects will include repainting, adding mulch, fixing concrete and installing new benches, he said.
Town parks and recreation superintendent Ray Coyne said he doesn’t believe the park’s condition is as poor as Councilman John Dunleavy said it was at a recent work session. During that meeting, Mr. Dunleavy noted the park’s broken swing, rusted jungle gym and picnic tables that are covered in mold and falling apart.
The town has already replaced the broken swing sets, Mr. Coyne said. He added that the park is one of several in town that need work and that finding money to maintain them is an ongoing problem.
The town has less than $100,000 remaining in its parks and recreation fees, which are paid by developers through subdivision applications, he said.
The former Bayberry Park was renamed Town of Riverhead Police Officers Memorial Park in honor of Riverhead police officer Timothy McQueeney, who died in a 1997 traffic accident.
Mr. McQueeney is one of five officers named on the park’s entrance sign. The others are Richard Boden, Francis Bujmicki, John Seaman and John Danowski.
The park’s picnic table area was also renamed the PO Timothy E. McQueeney Memorial Picnic Area.
Home Depot representatives didn’t respond to requests seeking comment for this story.
Photo credit: Tim Gannon
