On Saturday, November 11, Village residents and local officials attended an afternoon reception to introduce plans for a proposed Harbor Island Children’s Playground. Fred Longacre, President of the Board of the Conservancy welcomed guests, introduced fellow board members and discussed the creation of Harbor Island Conservancy and its role in the revitalization of Harbor Island Park. Julia Sperry-Longacre, Secretary, discussed previous projects funded by the Conservancy and Jose Zeilstra, Design Committee Chairperson, presented the plans for a new nautical themed playground for the park. John Farris, Fundraising Chair, officially opened the campaign to raise $200,000 from the Mamaroneck community to make the playground a reality.

Harbor Island Conservancy has taken on a major project to replace the current playground. The new facility will incorporate a nautical theme with many activities suitable for special-needs children. Central to the site is a covered pavilion for parents. The creative design locates equipment in age appropriate areas within the playground and will accommodate up to 150 children at any given time.

Harbor Island Conservancy announced that $201,700 has been raised to date. The balance will be needed by February 1, 2007 to assure the Playground will open in June, 2007. Contributions may be sent to the Harbor Island Conservancy, Inc., 180 East Prospect Ave., Mamaroneck, NY 10543, or made on line by clicking HERE. Opportunities exist for donors to purchase equipment, benches and pavers. For more information, please contact Fred Longacre at f_longacre@hotmail.com or John Farris at atfarris@aol.com.

The star of the proposed Harbor Island Playground is a 35 foot long, custom designed steamboat which sets the nautical theme of the playground. The steamboat has multi-level platforms, stairs, five “climbing events”, deck ladders, handicap accessible transfer stairs and a special needs accessible transfer platform. On the pilot house deck there is a ship’s wheel and on the stern deck a “rain wheel”. The steamboat connects to an adjacent play center via a five meter long cable suspension bridge. It challenges the imaginations and muscles of children of all ages.

The steamboat is just one of eleven unique play structures in the newly proposed Harbor Island Playground. Central to the site is a covered pavilion providing seating and shelter for families enjoying Harbor Island Park and its beautiful views.

The response of the guests to the presentation of the Conservancy-sponsored new Harbor Island Playground was enthusiastic. “Fantastic!” exclaimed a Village Trustee. “We had no idea how much thought and effort was going into this project. This will be the ultimate playground”.

The Plans for the new playground will be on display at selected sites throughout the community, and can be viewed HERE. The first public presentation of the proposed Harbor Island Playground, showing photographs of the equipment and site layout, will be made at the regular monthly meeting of the Mamaroneck Village Board of Trustees on December 11th.

To view a detailed map of the proposed playground, click HERE. The file size is large, so please be patient. To download it to your computer, right click, and choose "Save target as"