Bellport gazebo slammed by Sandy to be replaced

A beloved gazebo that superstorm Sandy destroyed a year ago Tuesday is slated to be replaced as part of repairs in Bellport Village.

The massive storm flooded Bellport Memorial Park and damaged a marina, bulkheads and docks. Mayor Ray Fell estimated repairs would cost about $2 million.

To many residents, the most devastating loss was the gazebo -- a village symbol featured in photographs and postcards since it was built about 1921. For decades, residents and visitors sat on its benches to while away summer days gazing at Bellport Bay.

"Everybody misses it, and they'd like it back," said local historian Victor Principe. "It's sort of a very humble structure, but it's rich in history. Right now, the waterfront looks incomplete without it."

The new gazebo is expected to cost about $62,000, said Fell, adding that most of the cost is expected to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Total park repairs -- excluding the gazebo -- are expected to range from $100,000 to $125,000, he said, adding that village officials have not decided how to pay for that project.

The park restoration plans are to be discussed Saturday during a community meeting at the village Community Center, 4 Bell St. The meeting time is to be set Monday night at a meeting of the village board.

SEE PHOTOSAerial views of Sandy damage

Fell said residents who attend Saturday's meeting will be invited to suggest amenities they would like to see at the park. Some residents have recommended the addition of a boccie court, he said. "We'll be open to anyone else who has any ideas that would be good," he said.

Marina and dock repairs were completed in time for the busy and lucrative summer season, Fell said.

Park restoration plans call for new trees -- swamp oaks and tupelo, which are native to the region, to replace weeping willows, which are not -- and sturdy grasses such as fescue and rye, said John Beitel, the Bellport landscape architect designing the plans.

Beitel said the lawn may be regraded so that flooding caused by storms will dissipate "within a couple of days, instead of a couple of weeks . . . You can't do anything about the flood, but you can do something to make it drain more quickly."

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Officials plan to repair cracks in the park's bandstand, and move and elevate a World War II cannon to protect it from storm surges, Fell said.

The bandstand originally had been the porch of a 19th-century hotel, the Bay House, one of several hotels that dotted the Bellport shore before it was torn down in the 1930s, Principe said.

Rebuilding the gazebo and the park will help Bellport residents rebound from Sandy, Beitel said.

"I think it's very much the heart of the community," he said of the park. "It was a beautiful gazebo. It was really a good piece of architecture . . . It was just a nice focal point of the park."

Rebuilding Bellport

Some projects that are part of the planned restoration of the village's waterfront:

SEE PHOTOSSandy's impact on Long Island

Rebuild a gazebo destroyed by superstorm Sandy.

Repair cracks in bandstand.

Plant new grass and trees.

Regrade lawn to improve

drainage.

Elevate and move World War II cannon to protect it from

storm surges.