This Wednesday, the Nassau County sponsored Operation Downtown project commenced in Massapequa.

Operation Downtown is a county-sponsored project geared to revitalizing local communities. The county gets involved by providing capital funds, planning, and technical assistance. It is a program that was begun just over two years ago and has helped several local communities.

The first community to really benefit from Operation Downtown was Bellmore, which has become the model for other Nassau County projects. Gary Hudes of the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce and president of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce has become one of the leading authorities on Operation Downtown because of the success of the Bellmore project.

According to Don Cambell, commissioner of the Office of Housing and Intergovernmental Affairs for the county, "Operation Downtown was started by Thomas Gulotta about two years age, based on the pilot project that was done in Bellmore. The concept is to revitalize the downtown Main Streets and their Mom and Pop type stores."

Other local communities that are currently benefiting from the revitalization effort are Farmingdale and Hicksville, both of which have been in progress for many months.

Nassau County Legislator Peter J. Schmitt is one of the major sponsors of the Massapequa-based Operation Downtown. Schmitt has announced that the $600,000 contract in Massapequa will be for the installation of new curbs, decorative street lights, park benches, planters, trash receptacles, and brick walkways and trees in the downtown area. Schmitt explained that the project will improve the area on Broadway from the railroad station, north to Pennsylvania Avenue and on Central Avenue, from New York Avenue to Veteran's Boulevard. It is expected that it will take approximately five months to complete this project.

The concept for the Massapequa project was a joint effort between Schmitt and the Massapequa Chamber of Commerce, at that time led by President Rick Ericson. Schmitt explained, "Rick Ericson, Martha Parry, Walter Schmidt, then all chamber officers, and I sat for hours and fleshed out the idea for a project."

In 1997 the application for Massapequa's Operation Downtown was approved by the county's Intergovernmental Affairs Department. Throughout 1997 and part of 1998, according to Schmitt, the then Chamber President Dennis Monet and current Chamber President Bob Rubino and other chamber officers including Vice President Florence Kleinfelder and Sal Polito, worked with the county to determine the extent of the project.

The project was put out to bid in December 1998 and it was approved by the Nassau County Legislature on March 15, 1999.

Schmitt declared, "I am very proud to have secured this project for Massapequa. It is the largest Operation Downtown project that the county has ever undertaken and I was pleased to work with the Massapequa Chamber of Commerce to initiate the project."

According to Schmitt the Massapequa community owes a debt to the leadership and vision of Ericson, Monet, Parry, Schmidt, Rubino, Kleinfelder, Polito, and all chamber leaders, past and present who have assisted the Massapequa downtown business community in this major undertaking.

Of Operation Downtown Schmitt stated, "It is a concrete example of the commitment of Nassau County to strengthening our Downtown areas and I am delighted to be able to bring these improvements to Massapequa."