Meeting on Sunken Meadow park's future set

Officials have begun preparation of a master plan for Sunken Meadow State Park and scheduled a March 3 meeting for the public to offer its ideas about the facility's future.

The plan for future use and improvements to the Smithtown park that draws 2.5 million visitors annually will take a year to complete.

"Prior to a public meeting, we develop a baseline of the park and what is there and what the historic uses have been and what the uses are today," said Ronald Foley, regional director for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. "Then we have the public meeting without any predetermined ideas about what the future will look like. We ask the public for its ideas so we can combine that with the existing status, and then talk more informed about what the future will look like."

After the close of the comment period April 4, the state will issue a draft plan in September, followed by a hearing in October. The final proposal will be released in January 2012 with adoption in February.

The 1,287-acre park just east of Fort Salonga draws visitors from throughout Long Island and New York City. It includes 3 miles of Long Island Sound beach, three 9-hole golf courses, a driving range, sports fields, trails and picnicking sites, the parks agency said.

The park began to take shape in 1926 with the acquisition of 200 acres and visitation jumped with completion of the Sunken Meadow Parkway in the 1950s. The parks agency says the park's aging utilities, including plumbing, heating and electrical systems, are deteriorating from heavy use.

Governor Alfred E. Smith/Sunken Meadow State Park, as the site is formally known, will be the third park on Long Island to get a master plan as part of an effort that began three years ago to develop plans for all state parks. Plans have been completed for Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve in Lloyd Harbor and Hallock State Park Preserve in Northville.

The meeting will be in the Kings Park High School cafeteria at 200 Rte. 25A at 7 p.m. More information is available at nysparks.com/inside-our-agency/master-plans.aspx. Comments can be sent to Mark Hohengasser, Agency Building 1, 17th Floor, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12238; or SunkenMeadow.Plan@oprhp.state.ny.us.