Huntington to discuss Gateway Park expansion

Huntington residents will soon get a chance to express their thoughts about expanding Gateway Park in Huntington Station. The town board will hold a public hearing March 13 to discuss acquiring a parcel of land adjacent to the park that would essentially double its size.

Gateway Park sits at the corner of New York and Lowndes avenues in Huntington Station. The 1-acre site includes former state, county and town parcels as well as recently acquired private parcels. It also includes a community vegetable garden.

The latest piece of land, a 1.06-acre lot located at 12 Academy Pl., had been identified in a 2004 report issued by the Environmental Open Space & Park Fund Review Advisory Committee as a parcel to be obtained to create Gateway Park. But, according to town spokesman A.J. Carter, it has only recently come on the market to be sold.

“There is now a willing seller,” Carter said. “This hearing is to go ahead and approve the acquisition and then go ahead and negotiate a price that is agreeable to all.”

Carter said the funds to purchase the lot would come from the Environmental Open Space & Park Fund Review Advisory Committee.

The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at Huntington Town Hall, 100 Main St.