A Park For Everyone

Last month, plans were unveiled for much needed improvements at Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor. Designed by landscape architect Ed Hollander and drafted by the school district’s architectural firm, H2M, the plans recently were unveiled at a meeting of the Sag Harbor School Board after months of dialogue involving school officials, the Park Board, School Board members, architects and designers.

The plan for a renovated park begins an important public conversation about critical recreational space in the village, but it also is the culmination of a cooperative effort between the school, the park and the village — on a level that hasn’t been seen in quite some time.

This path forward was carved after a stalemate last year between school and park officials over a new contract to have Pierson High School athletics hosted at Mashashimuet Park, as has been the case for generations. While a long-term contract between the school and the park is contingent on public approval of funding — voters are likely to have the information they’ll need in time for the John Jermain Memorial Library budget vote and trustee election on September 29 — these two entities are working toward a common goal: improved recreational space for students and residents of greater Sag Harbor alike.

Detailed plans will continue to be discussed, and a public campaign will be essential for a successful referendum. But the first draft showed a measured plan that addresses the decades-long need for large-scale upgrades and renovation at Mashashimuet Park. A refurbished varsity baseball diamond is planned, with a second ball field also envisioned on the property, and two softball fields that can also host Little League teams on the other side of the park.

Perhaps the biggest change would be the addition of a full-sized high school track — something Sag Harbor students have never had available to them, but also an amenity that will serve the community at large. A regulation field hockey and soccer field will sit in the center of that track.

A more aggressive plan could have been floated, but, wisely, this draft ensures Mashashimuet Park’s vistas largely will be preserved, and facilities will be limited to the current footprint. That’s an essential nod to environmental advocates, who are certainly paying close attention to a development so close to the Long Pond Greenbelt.

It’s a plan that serves students, the community and the parkland itself. In that way, it’s in keeping with the wishes of Mashashimuet Park’s benefactress, Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage — sometimes known as Mrs. Russell Sage — who purchased the park from the Park and Fair Grounds Association in 1908, in the hopes that it would be a center for the Sag Harbor community. With this new renovation plan, Mrs. Sage’s vision can be continued, and expanded, for the benefit of all.