Bay Shore spray park to reopen this summer

Town officials said that even though the 2-year-old water spray park at Benjamin Beach Park in Bay Shore was not open for Memorial Day weekend, they hope to reopen it this summer.

Last summer, a year after Norberto Construction built the park, cracks started to appear in the wading pool, creating a safety hazard, town officials said.

“They’ve gone back and done different things to fix it, but the cracks keep reappearing,” said town spokeswoman Inez Birbiglia, adding that because of the type of materials used, the construction company needs a stretch of dry, warm weather to seal the cracks.

In light of the ongoing issues with the wading pool, the town board passed a resolution last week authorizing town attorney Rob Cicale to “begin a default action” on the $1.3 million maintenance bond the company put up one year ago to “guarantee that the work will be free of any defective materials or workmanship.”

Cicale said the bond would have expired last Saturday.

“To my knowledge they’ve been responsive to the requests of the town engineer, but in the end the proof is in the repairs,” Cicale said. “We have to make sure they’re done right.”
Said Birbiglia: “Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the weather.”

Representatives from Norberto Construction were not available for comment.