A pair of banners to honor Village of Kings Point-native Olympic figure skaters Sarah and Emily Hughes will once again hang in the rafters of the Great Neck Park District’s Andrew Stergiopolous Ice Rink at the Parkwood Sports Complex.
Great Neck Park District Commissioners voted during their meeting last Thursday to pay $1,500 to have two banners made by Great Neck-based Sign-A-Rama as a tribute to the sisters who honed their skills at the Parkwood Sports Complex.
“They did have banners in the past that were either damaged or lost during the rink renovation,” Great Neck Park District acting Superintendent Peter Renick said.
Nearly two months ago, park district commissioners unanimously voted down a proposal by former Great Neck Public Schools Trustee Michael Zarin to rename the 48-year-old Parkwood Sports Complex after Sarah Hughes, who won a figure skating gold medal at the at the 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Following the vote, commissioners said the park district would create “real permanent monuments” to the Hughes sisters.
But the purchase of the new banners was not in direct response to that pledge, Renick said.
“The park district is looking at a couple other options, but they had promised the Hughes family that they would put banners back up because the others were removed,” the acting superintendent said.
Each banner will separately memorialize the figure skating achievements of the sisters, Renick said.
The banner for Sarah Hughes will feature a picture of the figure skater, along with the year she won her gold medal at the age of 16, Renick said.
Aside from her Olympic success, Sarah Hughes earned a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships in Vancouver and won a series of other medals in international skating competitions.
Emily’s Hughes’ banner will feature her name, the Olympic symbol and the years she competed in the U.S. Nationals competition and Olympics.
Aside from competing in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Emily Hughes took part in several international competitions.
“They are just plain, simple banners that will hang in the ice rink,” Renick said. “They fit into a certain spot in the rink where the beams are. This was ongoing before the renaming proposal.”
Originally opened in 1964, the Parkwood Sports Complex is comprised of the Parkwood Pool, the Parkwood Tennis Learning Center and the Andrew Stergiopoulis Ice Rink.
Residents of all Great Neck villages and unincorporated areas are eligible to use the park district facilities with the exception of Great Neck Estates, Harbor Hills, Lake Success, Saddle Rock and University Gardens.
In other business, park district commissioners approved a resolution to refinance the lease of its energy-creating co-generation and gas chilling machinery at the Parkwood Sports Complex.
The co-generation unit is a “gas-driven generator” that is used to produce energy to heat and air condition the Parkwood Sports Complex and heat the facility’s pool, Renick said.
“It’s all to save money and that was a bond that was issued years ago,” Renick said. “It’s a good thing. I think that they’re saving over $100,000 … over the course of 10 years.”
The commissioners also unanimously passed a resolution to change the deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions for the park district’s annual election from 30 to 45 days before the vote is held.
“The purpose of this is to allow sufficient time for the preparation of ballots,” Great Neck Park District Commissioner Robert Lincoln Jr. said.
All nominating petitions, which are required to include the names of at least 25 registered voters, are now required to be filed with the board of commissioners secretary Dorina Bradley 45 days before the park district’s next election that is scheduled to be held on Dec. 11, 2012.
“There needs to be a candidate meeting, a number of clerical things that need to be done and sometimes it is quite close to having – especially the absentee ballots – available in a timely fashion,” Lincoln said of the new deadline. “This will actually make it easier for people to vote, especially absentees.”
