North Hempstead Beach Park is expected to see a number of new activities in the coming years, as announced in North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth’s State of the Town address.
Bosworth proposed the addition of a year-round restaurant, a performance stage, seasonal ice skating rink, sledding hill, volleyball, horseshoes, bocce court, ping pong, a soccer and baseball field, climbing wall, BMX bike track, game tables, swings, pickleball courts and a number of new places to sit and look out at the water.
The restaurant, which is expected to be constructed at the north end of the park, will also include a fire pit and outdoor terraces for eating outside during warm weather.
A 16-foot-wide waterfront esplanade can be used by pedestrians and bicyclists.
The town administration is also considering a space in the park to honor North Hempstead residents who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“We are very pleased that we have found a respectful location that can be accessed by all,” she said.
The master plan also includes the elimination of eight acres of parking which includes 675 parking spaces.
The suggested amenities for the park come after the town held a number of public meetings where residents were able to offer ideas. The conceptual plan was drawn up by the town’s consultant Quentin Rothschild and with the help of the Visioning Committee, which includes representatives from every part of North Hempstead.
The next steps for the project are to retain an engineering firm “to undertake the detailed design work, as well as create a resiliency plan that addresses future climate change and sea level rise,” Bosworth said.
The former Bar Beach, located on West Shore Road in Port Washington, came under the jurisdiction of the Town of North Hempstead in late 2007 when it also acquired Hempstead Harbor Park and reopened them both as North Hempstead Beach Park.
The park includes a 1.25-mile shoreline walking trail, which will soon be seeing an extension of 3,500 linear feet, as well as 200 acres of woodlands.
In 2018, the town oversaw the installation of a nonmotorized dock on the north end of the park which facilitates use by crew teams and the addition of ADA compliant beach mats to ease handicapped access to the beach.
