Town Applies for Good Ground Park Study Grant

The Town of Southampton has applied for a $130,000 grant from New York State to help defray the cost of a planning and design study for the 36-acre Good Ground Park in Hampton Bays. 

The town board approved the grant application on July 10, stating that the entire study is expected to cost about $178,000. The grant, if awarded, would reimburse the town a total of 75 percent over the next three years.

Mary Wilson, the town's community preservation manager, says the study will explore various options for the park, which was purchased on August 1, 2003 for $3.8 million. 

The park was bought, said Wilson, with expectations that the land could be left in its natural state or used as a hamlet green, open space and passive recreation and ideas are included in the not-yet-completed . 

In October, The , with the help of the town and county has completed a 700-foot trail, called the , which begins at the pergola on Main Street and runs to the park. 

The $123,000 trail was built with with $84,000 in funds from Suffolk County, $32,812 from the Town of Southampton and $12,500 from the Hampton Bays Beautification Association.  

The Beautification committee has also — an idea the town agreed to explore in July 2011.

The town is also, said Wilson, exploring the construction of a roadway on the Southerly boundary of the park on land purchased by the town at the same time as the park. That proposed roadway, known as the Good Ground extension was also included in the DGEIS and is controversial — some residents believe the roadway will draw business away from Main Street.

What would you like to see at Good Ground Park. Post your thoughts in the comment section below.