Oyster Bay Town, Lions Club unveil renovated Beekman Beach

Enjoying the view from Oyster Bay’s Beekman Beach just got a little more comfortable, thanks to a $49,500 privately funded makeover unveiled Sunday.

The Oyster Bay Lions Club sold personalized bricks and benches to raise the funds to renovate an overlook at the beach with new stonework, railing and a flagpole. The renovation rebuilt an older concrete overlook that had cracked and needed to be reinforced, said Ron Paradiso, chairman of the Lions Club committee that spearheaded the project.

“People who used this beach growing up can now come back and feel proud to be here again,” Paradiso said Sunday.

The Oyster Bay Town Board approved the proposed project by the organization in 2017 and in May it approved the donation, valued at $49,500, according to a town board resolution. Construction on the 20-by-55-foot overlook and walkway began in June and took about three weeks to complete, Paradiso said.

To pay for the renovations Lions Club sold about 150 bricks with the names of people, businesses and organizations carved into them, for which donors paid $150 to $250, depending on the size.  Six metal benches were installed at the overlook, five of which were paid for through $3,500 sponsorships, Paradiso said. 

The parking lot was in poor condition after serving for years as the staging ground for Nassau County’s reconstruction of West Shore Road.

“At the end of the road of construction is a new beginning,” Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said at the opening Sunday. “We got that [staging area] cleared out and wanted to make sure this facility had everything needed to encompass what is a fabulous recreational area.”

Last week the town repaved the parking lot that serves the beach. The parking lot is only open to town residents and will have approximately 70 spaces when it is striped this  week, John Bishop, town deputy highway commissioner, said.