Rockville Centre man donates $750,000 to Hempstead Lake

Philip Scott, a longtime Rockville Centre resident, enjoyed Hempstead Lake State Park more than anywhere else.

A teacher in the Oceanside School District, he would spend some time every day in the park. He would walk the trails and take in the scenic views.

Scott loved the park so much that he decided to leave his entire estate to it weeks before he died in 2013. That gift has become a $750,000 endowment for the park.

“It’s the largest donation Hempstead Lake State Park has ever received,” said George Gorman, the deputy regional director for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Gorman said he met with Scott a few weeks before he died, after the man decided to leave everything to the park. Over the years, Scott had amassed a collection of art from around the world. He had contacted auction houses about the pieces and set up for them to be delivered and auctioned after his death.

Scott had dozens of pieces in his collection: paintings from American artists, statues from Tibet, African tribal masks and more. Each piece was catalogued and sent to an auction house to be sold. They totaled more than $300,000.

Some individual pieces fetched quite a large amount. A gilded statue of Manjusrivajra from Tibet sold for more than $81,000. An oil painting by American artist John Marin titled “Weehawken Grain Elevators” sold for nearly $47,000.

Scott had no surviving family, so he decided to leave everything he had to the park he loved. His Rockville Centre home was also sold, generating another $450,000, which brought the total of his give to around $750,000.

The money is going to be put into an endowment for the park, with the interest being used to fund projects each year.

“Each year, there will be proceeds, and those proceeds will be used to benefit Hempstead Lake State Park,” Gorman said. “Something they need that year that we haven’t budgeted. Say, some playground equipment or there’s a special event and we need temporary staff. It’s actually a long-term benefit.”

Despite the enormous generosity of his gift, Scott didn’t want any recognition. But after he died, Gorman and others knew they couldn’t let Scott’s gift go unrecognized. So they dedicated the pavilion at the park the Philip Scott Pavilion. “He just wanted to do it altruistically for Hempstead Lake State Park,” said Gorman.