Hall's Pond renovations near completion

West Hempstead organizations had to scale back their annual Sept. 11 Memorial Ceremony this year — the year they had planned a special event in honor of the 10th anniversary of the attacks. The reason? Hall’s Pond Park, home of the memorial garden and plaque, was still closed for renovations.

“The park is far from completed and there are a number of things which still need to be done,” said Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association, which was instrumental in getting funds and approval from the county to reconstruct and renovate the West Hempstead park.

While Norton had indicated in June 2010, when work first began at the park, that she was told construction would be completed by the start of this summer, Mike Martino, spokesman for the county Department of Public Works, insisted that this fall had always been the deadline. In June, Norton said, she was told the park would be open and ready for use by Sept. 11. But as September neared, it became clear that the park would not be ready in time.

“Weather played a big part in extending the time frame, which is very common for projects of this nature,” Martino said, adding that the county would still meet its fall deadline by completing the work in the coming weeks.

All that’s left to do, according to Martino, is cleanup and landscaping work. He added that a storm-water project would be in the works in the northern part of the park for some time, and that that area would be fenced off. But once all the work is done, park visitors will see new lighting, drinking fountains, walkways, trash receptacles, landscaping and fencing. They will see a new facade on the footbridge, a new gazebo and a new amphitheater. They may even glimpse the bottom of the pond itself, thanks to a new water filtration system and catch basin that will keep debris out and improve the pond’s circulation.

West Hempstead had been waiting for the $853,000 renovation since 2005, when the county’s Environmental Bond Act Committee announced that Hall’s Pond was one of 18 Nassau County parks that had been selected for rehabilitation. Now, six years later, the day of completion is almost here.

“Although it has taken longer than any of us had hoped,” Norton said, “I expect that the end result will justify the lengthy process.”