Up to 3,000 people traveled to the Village of East Hills grounds last Sunday to celebrate the groundbreaking on the most ambitious project in village history: The Park at East Hills.

Local dignitaries who attended the event included US Rep. Gary Ackerman, Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, Assemblyman David Sidikman, East Hills Mayor Michael R. Koblenz and Deputy Mayor Linda Nathanson.

Groundbreaking Day lasted from late afternoon to the early evening. It featured plenty of rides and attractions for young children, music by the Rhythm Method of Binghamton University and the Roslyn High School marching band and presentations by Mayor Koblenz and other village officials.

Most of the actual groundbreaking included a "ceremonial demolition" of a former officers' club as Mayor Koblenz, with the assistance of a professional driver, brought down the hammer on building two of the club, thus getting the construction project underway. Later in the evening, a fireworks display closed the historic day.

Mayor Koblenz called the groundbreaking a "special time for everyone in our community since it marks the beginning of a great, new era of our Village," adding that East Hills residents will "soon...be enjoying the finest sports and recreational facilities in our new park just minutes away from our homes. Before long we'll see fields of grass and our children and grandchildren playing, and our more venerable members of our community using the new senior lounge."

Updating the situation, Mayor Koblenz said that the asbestos removal and demolition is progressing "at a trip-hammer pace...we will open the facilities as soon as they become available."

To commemorate Groundbreaking Day, the village presented a special program, available to all those who attended. The program featured planned completion dates for the entire project. By November 2004, abatement and demolition should be completed. In January 2005, construction should begin as will site preparation. After that, the senior lounge should be ready by the spring of 2005. The summer of next year should see the completion of the tennis courts and tennis lounge, basketball courts, the park gate and entrance, plus jogging and nature trails.

By the winter of 2005, village officials are hopeful that the athletic fields and children's playgrounds, plus the picnic areas, dog park, paths, parking areas, and landscaping are all completed. Finally, the summer of 2006 should see the completion of the pool and locker rooms.

Village officials extended special "thank you's" to numerous individuals for making both the groundbreaking day and the entire project possible.

Among local residents, they cited Groundbreaking Day Co-Chairs Felicia Gordon, Jonathan Cheris, and Jed Pomerantz, plus staff members for the Koblenz administration: Donna Gooch, Peter Burke, Andrew Silverman, and Michael Kosinski and Richard Arenella, all for helping to plan and implement the day.

Other local leaders cited were Jack Russo, Anne Croce, and members of the Oversight Committee, the Committee Chairs, the Committee Members, the Civic Association Presidents, and other community leaders. The committees mentioned were manned by local residents who all volunteered their time to get the park project off the ground.

Village officials also thanked those politicians who helped to secure the necessary legislative and financial matters to get the land area in village hands. They included Rep. Ackerman, Assemblyman Sidikman, State Senator Michael Balboni, Nassau County Legislator Craig Johnson, and Richard Kessel, chairman of LIPA.

Village officials had long hoped that a park for village residents would be built once the federal government decided to close the 40-acre Roslyn Air National Guard Station (ANG), which had stood in the village since World War II. The station itself was once part of the 230-acre estate of Clarence Mackay.

When the ANG was scheduled to close, village officials were concerned that the site might be replaced by such projects as low-income housing, a drug rehabilitation center, and a major commercial post office processing facility. With the help of Rep. Ackerman, congressional committees approved the idea of a village purchase of the ANG site.

On Dec. 9, 2000, the property was officially transferred from the Air Force to the village. On Oct. 8, 2003, village residents voted to approve park construction in a referendum on a $17 million bond. The referendum passed by a 1,149 to 333 margin. Originally, village officials had set the bond at $28 million, but the county's financial troubles forced them to scale back slightly on their park designs.