Elliston Park Completion Expected by the End of June

Late spring swimmers were aghast last month when they arrived at Emma Rose Elliston Park in North Sea to find it cordoned off.

By May 24, multiple signs of work underway were evident. A bulldozer was parked to one side, the path down to Big Fresh Pond torn up.

Why begin improvements just days shy of the holiday weekend, a time often celebrated at the cozy beach?

According to Southampton Town Deputy Supervisor Francis Zappone, the town was awarded a Community Development Block Grant to help defray the cost of the work. Suffolk County administers the money and didn’t release it to the town until late in April.

“If you start work prior to the release of funds, the town loses eligibility for that funding,” he explained.

The Parks Department was ready to start immediately after the release of funds — but at that point the contractor was backed up with work, Zappone reported.

Officials expect to have beach access open by June 16.

A timeline shared by the deputy supervisor lists the scope of work.

Stairs down to the pond were slated for completion on May 26, with landings completed early this week. Thursday and Friday of this week, June 1 and 2, were earmarked for the completion of wall foots, with walls constructed from June 5 to 9 and grading underway by June 12. A silt fence would be removed allowing access by June 16.

Concurrently, more work will commence on Americans with Disabilities Act amenities. The construction of an ADA viewing area is expected to start June 5. After that, an ADA access path will be built, beginning the week of June 19 and a parking pad for disabled visitors will get underway the week of June 26.

Water access will be available by June 16, with all the work scheduled for completion by the end of June.

People were concerned the park might be closed off for the summer, frequent Elliston visitor Roxanne Donovan said. She said she is delighted the town got the grant award as the park was in “tremendous disrepair.” A hidden gem, Donovan said the park is “really precious.” It would be great for people to rediscover it, she said.

Located at 40 Millstone Brook Road, tucked back off North Sea Road, Emma Rose Elliston Park is predominantly wooded, almost all the way down to Big Fresh Pond.

In 1951, Edward Elliston donated the 128 acres of family land that is now known as Emma Rose Elliston Memorial Park, located on the northeast side of Big Fresh Pond, to the Town of Southampton.

The Peconic Land Trust website tells the story of Emma Rose, who sailed with her father, a whaling captain, as a child during the 19th century. She married Edward Elliston and lived in Southampton until her death in 1933.

PLT notes that near the park, at the top of the hill, in the Rose family plot in the small North Sea cemetery, are the graves of Emma Rose and Edward Elliston. Emma Rose’s gravestone epitaph reads, “Beneath this stone rests a sweet, kindly and unselfish soul,” and tells the story of her young seafaring life. Her husband’s stone reads: “Sympathy with nature is a part of the good man’s religion.”