Six New Pickleball Courts and ADA Compliant Playground for Town’s Southern-most Park in Dix Hills
Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth and the Town of Huntington have officially opened the completely redesigned, all-inclusive playground and six new pickleball courts at the Town’s southern- most Park in Dix Hills, Otsego Park.
“The Town of Huntington has committed tens of millions of dollars upgrading its parks over the past 3 years”, said Town Supervisor Ed Smyth. “This includes over $740,000 for the Otsego Park improvements incorporating ADA compliant play structures and 6 new pickleball courts. These enhancements are a continuation of Huntington’s commitment to maintaining, upgrading, and preserving our public spaces for our residents.”
The new playground & pickleball courts took over a year to complete. The unveiling features a brightly colored, brand-new playground structure, new playground safety surface, walkways, landscaping, and benches. Room has also been designated for a shaded picnic plaza adjacent to the pickleball and tennis courts to be added in the future. The new pickleball courts replace the decades old dek hockey court that had fallen into disrepair. The new courts and playground are located on the south end of the park, closest to the Commack Road entrance.
Otsego Park is one of the town’s most widely used parks with fourteen playing fields for little league, softball, and baseball. The park also includes basketball courts, lighted tennis courts and a convenient comfort station. Plans are underway to upgrade the popular baseball field 9 with a new turf infield playing surface.
Over the past 3 years, Supervisor Ed Smyth and his Parks, Engineering and General Service teams have been chipping away at restoring many of the over 50 active and 90 passive parks throughout the Town. This year, the Town has breathed new life into several parks – many of which were long overdue. Upgraded parks include: Al Walker Park, Crab Meadow Beach Playground, Whitman Park, and the recent unveiling of the state-of-the-art playground at the Town’s crown jewel, Heckscher Park.
Smyth concluded, “We are so proud of the upgrades at Otsego. The popularity of this Park will assuredly climb with these new additions and enhancements. But, projects like this do not happen by themselves. The Town had many partners that help us financially and collaboratively to make many of these projects happen. Once again, we owe a great deal of thanks to EOSPA, the town’s Environmental Open Space Park Fund, for their insight, support, and financial contributions. They are invaluable to this and so many other initiatives throughout the Town. Another Advisory Task Force that we rely on greatly is the Citizens Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities (CAC). As we move to bring our parks and public spaces into the 21st century, we have been reliant on the CAC’s expertise and advocacy on building an inclusive environment. We owe a great deal of gratitude to both EOSPA and the CAC.”
Supervisor Smyth stated that his 2025 budget has plans to upgrade additional parks in the town including: Columbia Street Park, Koster Park, William Burn Park, and phase two of the Crab Meadow Beach Playground.
