January 23, 2007

SCOTTI AND WAKEFIELD PARKS IN YONKERS TO GET
MAJOR COUNTY-FUNDED IMPROVEMENTS

Ryan Praises Success of County-Local Legacy Partnerships

Contact: Betsy DeSoye
Director of Communications
(914) 995-3277

Two popular Yonkers recreational sites--Scotti Park and Wakefield Park—will be getting new playground equipment, new safety surfacings and new bench seating and picnic tables, among other improvements, thanks to the Westchester County Board of Legislators.

At its meeting last night, the Board approved $300,000 for the work, which will also include new tree plantings and landscaping and, at Scotti Park, refurbished basketball courts. The funds will come from the Legacy Program, a County initiative started in 2001 to address the shortage of active recreation areas in Westchester. Legacy money enables local municipalities to acquire land and/or construct new or enhance existing recreational facilities. In exchange, the local municipality agrees to be responsible for the operation, maintenance, scheduling and security of the new complex.

“County-local government partnerships through the Legacy Program has been a huge success all over Westchester,” said Bill Ryan (D-I-WF, White Plains) Chair of the Board of Legislators. “If local leaders, who are in the best position to assess their community’s recreational needs, present a good case, the County will act to make a project happen.” He noted that, recently, the County constructed a new athletic field complex at Tibbetts Brook Park that included constructing three new all-weather soccer fields and upgrading two existing fields.

Ryan said, in addition to the Tibbetts projects, Legacy funds built new or enhanced existing facilities at Saxon Woods Park in White Plains; Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson; Miracle Field at Ridge Road Park in Hartsdale; Louisa Street Stadium in Peekskill; King Street, adjacent to Blind Brook High School, in Rye Brook; Bronx River Reservation at Virginia Road in Mount Pleasant; a baseball field in Yorktown and a skate park in the City of Rye. He added that other projects were in the discussion stage.