Fort Pond House in Montauk—once deemed surplus property and listed for sale by East Hampton Town—has now been restored and will be returned to public use.
East Hampton Town had purchased the property, known then as the Deadrick House, in 2003 for general use. Not far from the Montauk School, off Second House Road, on the west side of Fort Pond, it has about 784 feet of waterfront as well as the 1,200-square-foot former residence built in 1926.
The camp-like property of almost 4 acres on Fort Pond, along with its trails, a small-boat launching area and a cabin-like residence, had been used by the Montauk Boy Scouts, the Montauk School, the Third House Nature Center, the Concerned Citizens of Montauk, the Hampton Shakespeare Festival and other groups before it was deemed uninhabitable in 2010, then closed and listed for sale.
In 2013, a new Town Board rescinded the resolution to sell the property, and it was officially named Carol Morrison Park, in honor of a well-known Montauk environmentalist and land preservation pioneer. Local volunteers and donors lent their support to the East Hampton Town Property Management Committee so it could complete a 12-month renovation and restoration of the property.
“Many of these same organizations have expressed interest in their continued use of Fort Pond House and Carol Morrison Park, and we now have a tremendous asset and management plan to help ensure they can,” said Peter Van Scoyoc, a Town Board member and its liaison to the Property Management Committee.