Public Meeting Set to Unveil Plans for Allen Park

The future expansion and redevelopment of is about to become a central issue facing the Farmingdale community.

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor announced a community meeting on the subject for Thursday, May 17, at 7 p.m.

Venditto said local community groups have weighed in on the preliminary plan and the town is "ready to unveil a preliminary plan and timeline for the redevelopment of the park.”

However, public input is a point of contention with several community leaders, who say the town has not considered their needs in the development of the plan.

For decades, Chuck Gosline has been advocating for a YMCA-like community center at the park, ideally on the portion of the property that once held the Liberty plant. After Liberty closed up, it left behind a toxic waste plume that became a federal Superfund site. The clean-up is in the final phases, town officials said.

In an email to community members, Gosline criticized the town for what he described as dragging their feet on a decision involving the site. Gosline said the town has discarded his proposal and he expects the proposal to include a new  community center and playing fields. 

In conversations with town officials, Gosline said the new center would be dividable into up to 6 different meeting rooms. It would have no basement, pool or skate park because of water table concerns.

There is also a lingering issue with a pool for . Some community proposed building a new, state of the art community pool that students could use for meets. But the town said such a facility would cost up to $25 million to build, town officials and Gosline said.

Instead, the town and Farmingdale's school board appear to have agreed on a plan to renovate the high school's pool. Gosline objects to that proposal.

Meanwhile, the town said no final decisions have been made.

"With the input of many local community groups, the town is ready to unveil a preliminary plan and timeline for the redevelopment of the park,” Venditto said.

The meeting will include a PowerPoint presentation on the proposal and a question and comment period. It will be held Thursday, May 17, at 7 p.m. at

“It has been a long time in coming, but when you see the finished park, I am confident you will agree that it has been worth the effort," Venditto said.