East Meadow, N.Y. -- Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, joined by Deputy County Executive of Parks, Public Works and Partnerships Michael Klein and members of the Nassau County Legislature, today outlined a $18 million “Nassau County Parks Are Making a Come Back” Campaign detailing his plans to rehabilitate, reorganize and restructure the Nassau County Parks System, which had suffered from more than a decade of neglect and mismanagement.

The County Executive’s State of the Parks presentation, which took place at the Carltun on the Park in Eisenhower Park, offered a comprehensive blueprint for rejuvenating Nassau County’s parks. The plan includes $18 million that will be spent during 2005 on park improvements, and additional funds, some of which will require legislative approval, that will be spent over the next several years on capital investments, renovations and improvements to positively impact all the County’s facilities.

“We are bringing sound business practices to every department in this County, and now we have turned our attention to Nassau County’s parks,” County Executive Suozzi said. “For too long, our beautiful parks and facilities have been allowed to deteriorate. Those days are over. We plan to work hard to fix the parks, just as we have fixed the County’s broken finances.”

The County presides over 83 parks, preserves, museums and athletic facilities with a total of 6000 acres offering year round enjoyment and recreation for residents and visitors, facilities for swimming, ice skating, golf (18 or 9 hole, and mini), sledding, boating, camping, fishing and tennis, as well as all of the field sports.  Residents and their families and friends can enjoy playgrounds, picnic areas and beaches.  Eisenhower Park welcomes tho usands to such world class events as the Long Island Golf Classic, the Long Island Marathon and the FINA World Cup at the Nassau County Aquatic Center.  Cultural events include the Long Island Fair at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, the Medieval Festival at the Sands Point Preserve and over forty summertime outdoor concerts at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre.

The County’s comprehensive “Come Back Campaign” has five components, including:

• a new management structure stressing accountability and responsibility;
• a renewed focus on cleaning up and revitalizing the parks system;
• plans for future maintenance once the parks are cleaned up, restructured and reorganized;
• a commitment to sound environmental policies; and,
• a focus on family fun and entertainment.

The first part of the “Come Back Campaign” is a new management structure. The parks system will be broken down into five separate regions to cover the Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southeast, and Southwest parts of the County. The County Executive’s Parks Administration will be assigned responsibility, and will be accountable for, the facilities in their region. The 18 current Park Managers will be held responsible for all daily operations, and will be provided the resources to achieve the stated goals.

The parks cleanup is the second and most visible part of the campaign to the public, with tangible results expected by Memorial Day. While some work has already begun to deal with this element of the County’s parks, there will be a heightened focus on ensuring that the new, stricter standards of cleanliness and state-of-repair are maintained, with individual parks managers being held accountable. Their efforts will be supported by “blitz crews,” highly-skilled parks and public works employees who work as a team on the physical turnaround of parks properties. Work includes the renovation of 43 tennis courts, 20 basketball courts, 30 baseball fields and 74 comfort stations. It also includes improved landscaping, repairing and installing new benches and new and renovated barbeque pits, and applying new coats of paint.

The third aspect of the Come Back Campaign is a plan for maintenance for the future, which would ensure that once cleaned, County parks remain that way in the years and even decades ahead. A systematic method of addressing priorities and monitoring the performance of every park in the system was put in place, which includes continued financial support, a prudent capital improvements program, an inspection unit charged with making random park visits, using digital photography and issuing report cards, and a recently-installed RecTrac software system that monitors the use of the facilities to aid in planning.

Fourth, the County will continue its commitment to respecting the environment. Efforts include a zero-tolerance policy for dumping, a half-million dollars allocated to planting trees, and the recently-passed Environmental Bond Act that provides $50 million to protect the purity of the drinking water, to preserve open space and farmlands, to protect the bays and harbors and to enhance our park system.

The final aspect of the Come Back Campaign – family fun and entertainment – includes everyday activities and sports as well as continuing to host major events like fireworks at Eisenhower Park, the new Commerce Bank Senior Long Island Golf Classic at Eisenhower, the Long Island Marathon and summertime concerts at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theater in Eisenhower Park.

“Just two short years ago we were one step away from bankruptcy and our County faced an imminent State takeover. Today we have undergone a remarkable transformation and have achieved the daunting task of solving the County’s fiscal crisis,” the County Executive said. “This reform must and will continue in every department until what was once considered ‘the worst County in the Country’ before we took office becomes the best in the nation.”

“The Nassau County Park Come Back Campaign is a dynamic plan that will restore our wonderful parks to their former glory,” said Deputy County Executive Klein. “The County Executive has applied his tenacity and analytical skills, which have helped the County recover fiscally, to create a come back effort that will reap enormous benefits to County residents with noticeable improvements by Memorial Day.”