Elmont Road Park field to receive revamp

Drainage problems at Elmont Road Park, which made fields unplayable will be a thing of the past after the Town of Hempstead makes a $900,000 investment to install a turf field.

Currently, when rain passes through the area, the field at the park is routinely over-saturated and prevents planned activities.

When New York Arena Partners secured a $1.3 billion development plan for Belmont Park, $3 million of the budget was allocated to renovate Elmont Road Park. When renovations finished in 2022, the town was not satisfied with the field which has been rendered unusable several times since it was opened.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald Clavin said that the town plans to make a $900,000 investment to install the turf field. The money will be allocated in the town’s capital budget, which is subject to approval this month.

“Numerous times in the last year, the field has flooded and it’s been unplayable,” Clavin said. “The board and I think that Elmont honestly has been shortchanged — and we want to do what should have been done from the beginning.”

New York Arena Partners did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment.

New York Arena Partners will not supply any funds for the turf field in Elmont, Clavin said. All project funds will come from Hempstead town.

The unresolved infrastructure issues at the park have left Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages “disgusted” with the developers.

“New York Arena Partners definitely cut corners, they made promises that they didn’t commit to,” said Solages. “They gave us less of the value than they were supposed to facilitate.”

Other turf fields have been installed in the town at Uniondale High School and Hempstead High School, and Clavin believes it is time for Elmont to get a turf field as well.

“We know it will be used a lot,” he said. “You know, Elmont is a great community, they’re a very active community and we know that this field when it’s done, hopefully next spring, it’s going to get used around the clock and we’re happy about that.”

Residents will be able to use the multipurpose field for sports such as football, soccer, lacrosse and more once it is renovated.

“This is what they should’ve built there day one,” he said. “The previous administration, they worked out a deal where they gave (Elmont), as far as I’m concerned, an inferior field.”

This isn’t the first time the conversation to install a turf field in Elmont has circulated. In recent years, she said the community has asked for the town to install a turf field at the park and she is happy to see renovations come to fruition.

“At the end of the day, we just all need to put the people of Elmont first,” Solages said. “And make sure that they are provided with a park that they deserve.”