Huntington's Heckscher Park Gets New, All-Inclusive Playground: Photos

HUNTINGTON, NY — The Sheryl Steinburg Collins Playground ribbon cutting was held Monday at Heckscher Park in Huntington Village, the town announced.

The redesigned playground is state of the art and all-inclusive, the town stated.

The playground is the most used in the town’s 150+ park system, welcoming up to 1,000 visitors a week, depending on events, according to the town.

The Town of Huntington states it has spent tens of millions of dollars upgrading its parks over the past three years. It used $2 million for the Heckscher Park Playground improvements.

"Projects of this magnitude do not happen by themselves," Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth said in a news release. "First and foremost, a huge pat on the back to the entire Town of Huntington Team. From Parks to Engineering to General Services, they all did what they needed to do for this outstanding outcome. But, the Town has many partners that help us foot the bill to make projects like the amazing Heckscher Park Playground happen. For the Heckscher all-inclusive play structure, we owe a lot to EOSPA and the Sheryl Steinburg Collins Foundation for their generous support. It takes many hands to make these improvements and we are grateful for the shared vision that our parks are vital to our community."

The town stated that the new Heckscher Park playground features an inclusive play environment for children of all ages and abilities and believes it is the first of its kind on Long Island.

Seth Collins, husband of the park’s namesake, Sheryl Steinberg Collins, said it was over 18 years ago that he and his family made a commitment to helping make Heckscher Park "the best it could be."

"I remember working with the Town to put in the very first rubberized play mats to make this playground extra safe," Collins said. "So, you can imagine that it was without hesitation that my family, through the Sheryl Steinberg Collins Foundation, immediately jumped on board when the Town let us know of their intention to redesign this playground. We started this foundation so our children could always be a part of their mother, and their mother would always be a part of them. Now Sheryl will be a part of thousands of other children’s lives, every day through the joy that is found here at Heckscher. This is a wonderful representation of everything Sheryl was, even the bright orange color that was her favorite. My family loves it. This is a great example of what a playground should be. Everyone sharing the same happy space, no matter their age or ability."

The new playground/walkway redesign project took four months to complete while the park playground area was closed to the public. The unveiling features brightly colored, brand-new playground structures, new playground safety surfaces, walkways, arches, landscaping, fencing, resurfaced picnic areas and shade structures, handicapped accessible tables, new signage and upgraded.

Marianne Iannaccone, president of the Citizens Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities, said it brings "great joy" that the updated plaground will allow all children to participate together, "regardless of their challenges in life."

"With the assistance of our Supervisor Ed Smyth, Deputy Supervisor John McCarron, Parks Director Todd Jamison, and all other department heads, we continue to achieve a world more filling for everyone, including the disabled," Iannaccone said.

The inclusive play environment's continuous play mission brings more play value to a smaller space, more social interactions, and more skill development among children.

Jeff Charles, spokesman for Landscape Structures, said the company has, for decades, paid attention to which children can play together, as well as how they can play.

"The playground is a place where kids of all abilities should be able to interact and play side by side," Charles said.

Another "critical" area of the playground was the installation of a quality safety play surface, according to the town. Unity Surfacing in Hicksville created rectangle play tiles, replacing the ailing pour-in-place (PIP) that once surfaced the playground. These tiles were chosen for the favored "Step and Repeat" installation method to lock in the tiles by lining real seams up with fake seams. The play tiles sit flush with Heckscher’s expanded stamped concrete walkways that now move through the playground and the surrounding area. This flush reveal allows all the playground areas to be entirely ADA compliant, allowing wheelchair access anywhere along the playground’s perimeters, according to the town.

"Over the past two years, my team has been chipping away at restoring many of the over 50 active and 90 passive parks throughout the Town," Smyth said. "This year, we have several parks that we are breathing new life into — many of which are long overdue, including: Al Walker Park, Crab Meadow Beach Playground, Whitman Park and Otsego Park, with more to come. But, the key project was to overhaul the Town’s crown jewel, Heckscher Park. We unveiled an amazing, all-inclusive, continuous play playground, safety surface, walkways, arches, and signage. A wonderful outcome for the entire town to enjoy. And, if you take a minute to check it out, you’ll agree, we succeeded! A true testament to a playground that will get over 1,000 visitors every week."