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Mayor Jerry Larsen, right, accepts a check for more than $200,000 from East Hampton Village Foundation, presented by foundation chairman Brad Billet, for the Herrick Park renovation designs.
Mayor Jerry Larsen, right, accepts a check for more than $200,000 from East Hampton Village Foundation, presented by foundation chairman Brad Billet, for the Herrick Park renovation designs.
The East Hampton Village Foundation, a nonprofit group tasked with raising money through private donations for village improvement projects, gave the village its first contribution last week: a check for $205,000 that will be used to fund the engineering designs for the redesign of Herrick Park.
The foundation’s board chairman, Brad Billet, presented the Village Board, virtually, with a check Friday, November 19 — and said the foundation has much more where that came from.
Billet said that the foundation has already collected or received pledges for some $1.2 million for the first phase of the park project and $500,000 for the second phase. He said the foundation expects to have much of the first phase pledges in hand by the end of the year.
The rehabilitation and expansion of the park, which will include new bathrooms, new athletic fields and walking paths, is expected to cost as much as $10 million.
The village formed the foundation last year as an avenue for tapping private donations from wealthy residents — much like New York City has done for Central Park for decades — to help with the cost.
The Village Board voted to accept the donation from the foundation in a resolution on Friday. In the next resolution, it voted to direct the money to Cashin Associates, the engineers who won the bid to design the new park.
“Well, we had it for a few minutes,” the mayor joked.
Michael Wright on Dec 1, 2021