RSS Feed
 |
|
||||||
Town, County, community come together
When a ten-acre vacant piece of property on Old Sunrise Highway in Massapequa was scheduled to first become the home of a BJ’s Wholesale store, and then a developer’s dream for senior housing, the athletic teams of Massapequa had a dream of their own. They wanted the site, the last piece of expansive open space in Massapequa, preserved for the public, specifically for fields for soccer, football and lacrosse. But that hope was only a glimmer, and the outlook bleak. The property had already been appraised, and Nassau County, which owned the land, had already been offered up to $7 million for it. For a county facing dire financial straits at the time, it was an offer they could not easily refuse. For the athletic teams in Massapequa, the competition was tough. But competition is something that the Massapequa players, their families and coaches knew something about. And, they knew that with hard work, determination and a will to win, they could have their fields. So they set to work to beat the mighty dollar, and get their field of dreams. John Lynott, Gary Slavin, Phil Healey, Kurt Rouke, Tom Burns, Leslie Dow, Arlene Martin, Walter Damato and Igor Bisko, as well as the members of the local athletic teams including MYLAX, Massapequa Soccer, Mustang Football and Baseball and the Massapequa Athletic Booster Club and PTA organizations, worked together with Town of Oyster Bay officials to make it happen. While the Town negotiated a unique deal with the county, which included a swap of land for services, members of the community provided the political pressure needed to make it happen. They held meetings and made posters and called their officials and wrote letters. Today the Field of Dreams in Massapequa is a reality, and it will be officially opened Saturday, October 1. Ceremonies begin at 11 a.m. "The completion of this field is a tribute to the community and I think it shows that miracles can happen said Slavin, one of the driving forces behind the community effort for the Field of Dreams.
|
for larger version       |
|||||
)
