In June of this year the Great Neck Park District commissioners invited the public to meet with the landscape architecture design firm, Andropogon Associates of Philadelphia, Pa. to give some direction to the design team before they set to work on a master plan for the Village Green Park. On Nov. 29, Teresa Durkin and Marita Roos, presented a first draft proposal to some 40 residents who attended the meeting at Great Neck House.

Commission chair Ruth Tamarin began the meeting by saying that it is the intention of the commissioners to enhance the park in stages over a multi-year period without placing an undue financial burden on the community by effecting partnerships (perhaps with the Village of Great Neck), applying for grants and drawing on the fundraising of the Park Foundation especially established for such projects. She stressed that the plans so far are "conceptual and fluid."

Ms. Roos stated that they had taken residents' suggestions to heart, namely to keep the Green, green; to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of the park and to maintain the "open" feel of the park.

If you are standing on Middle Neck Road facing the park and to the left of the Senior Housing, the design plan calls for leaving the portion that is lined with a colonnade of large trees essentially untouched. The only suggestion in that quadrant is to consider replacing the circular flowerbed with a fountain.

Moving back to the southwest quadrant, the Beach Road office building could be converted into an indoor playscape. (Although not specifically addressed at the meeting, it appears that the current office would need to be consolidated into the Parkwood office space for this to occur.) The small maintenance building and parking lot would remain. A space comprised of 7,180 square feet between the existing office building and the walled Rose Garden could be developed into a children's garden and playground. Tucked away, it would have the feel of a "secret garden." The small building that has been an inoperable restroom facility would be reopened.

The design of the playground is proposed to follow the principles of what is known in recreational circles as a "boundless playground." Such playgrounds are created to be inclusive, meeting the needs of all children with special care given in the design for children with disabilities. The goal is to have children of all abilities to be able to play together. (For more information on boundless playgrounds, you may visit www.boundlessplaygrounds.org) Ms. Tamarin said that there are approximately 800 children with special needs whose families are park district members.

The design team also suggested that the space between the projected children's playground and Willow Lane be used for a greenhouse so that plants could be propagated and over wintered for uses throughout the district.

Beatrix Farrand, a renowned landscape designer who was active from 1912 to the mid-forties, originally designed a plan for the area now known as the Rose Garden, which is walled on three sides. She designed gardens at Princeton University, Yale, and the White House to name but a few sites where she worked. After much research, the park district found her original detailed plans, which call for a planting scheme quite different from today's garden. Originally, it was to have been a Victorian garden with the flowerbeds on the perimeter of the plot and a lawn in the center. In order to restore the garden to Beatrix Farrand's vision, the roses, which have been planted and cared for by the Great Neck Garden Club, would have to be relocated.

Another suggestion by Andropogon Associates is to remove the stage in front of the veterans' memorial to make the memorial wall more accessible and improve its visibility. A temporary reviewing stand could be erected for the Memorial Day Parade and other functions. The gazebo would remain in its current position.

Many changes were proposed for the northern portion of the park that borders Great Neck House and Arrandale Ave. The design team proposes that the rectangular shaped parking lot essentially be flipped to run lengthwise along Arrandale. Ms. Durkin said, "We are proposing this change because we feel the parking lot intrudes too much into the body of the park and Great Neck House feels cut off from the park." The lot would still accommodate 60 cars and would be screened from the street by plantings.

A person walking into the park from the parking lot would pass through beds of transplanted rose bushes and a grassed lawn behind the new rose garden would be used for concerts and outdoor movie events.

The land beside and directly behind Great Neck House is envisioned to be suitable for community space with the possibility of temporary kiosks for art shows and the like. The small building behind Great Neck House could be converted into an arts center.

Since these were conceptual ideas with no specific plans, cost estimates were not given. Some beleaguered residents of Arrandale raised concerns about the expanse of parking lot that would border a greater length of the street if this exact proposal goes forward. Promises of more plantings to soften the vista from Arrandale did not meet with enthusiasm. Some residents were intrigued by the proposals and quite excited at the prospect of revamping the park while others were wary about the costs and the unintended consequences of some rather major changes. There was much information to absorb and for some, like this reporter, it took re-walking the park to really put the pieces of the redesigned puzzle together again.

There will be other opportunities for residents to have input into this process because it is still in the beginning stage of planning.