Ground Broken On Revitalization Of Alfred J. Walker Memorial Park In Huntington Station

HUNTINGTON STATION, NY — The groundbreaking for the redesigned Alfred J. Walker Memorial Park was held Friday in Huntington Station. The park, named for cartoonist and World War II veteran Alfred J. Walker, is at 33 West 11th Street.

The new park will include new basketball courts, new playground, an exercise area with stationary exercise equipment, a soccer field, corn hole courts, and a gazebo. Turning Walker Park into a multi-use facility was the idea behind renovating it, said Town of Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth.

"One of the things we're moving toward with a lot of the parks is when we do renovate, to go to better layout and design to maximize the use of the limited space available," Smyth told Patch.

There isn't a set timetable on when the park will be complete. It closed about a year ago to prepare for the renovation.

The renovation of Al Walker Park plays a "major role" in the wider revitalization of the Huntington Station community, Smyth said. A committee has been meeting to discuss how to spend the $10 million in Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) funding that Huntington Station was awarded by the state in January.

"Al Walker Park has been called Huntington Station's Central Park," Smyth said. "In terms of keeping it in top condition, it's very important and integral to the revitalization of Huntington Station."

Central Park, a bastion of New York City that tens of millions of people visit each year, is a lofty ideal to stand up to. Refurbishing Al Walker Park, Smyth said, "absolutely" goes a long way in having the Huntington Station park live up to its comparison.

The park is currently a vacant lot corner to corner. The town plans to rejuvenate every square foot of it.

The renovations are expected to cost $1.2 million with roughly half being covered by EOSPA Park Improvement funding.

Walker, the park's namesake, served as a corporal in the U.S. Fifth Army during World War II. He worked briefly with Irving Berlin in his salute to the American GI. He finished his military service cataloging recovered artwork stolen by the Nazis in Germany and Salzburg, Austria.

Walker was also a famed artist/cartoonist trained at Walt Disney Studios. He attended college at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and worked for Walt Disney Studios in the late 1930s. He also worked on sheet music for Irving Berlin, and was responsible for the design of the Seal of the Town of Oyster Bay and the Walt Whitman High School Wildcat basketball banners.

"Al Walker was a very well known, well regarded man in the Huntington Station community," Smyth said. "He has a storied history, personally."

Walker also lived immediately next door to the park.

"For decades, he served as the unofficial park steward, keeping an eye out for the park and all of its equipment and the kids playing there," Smyth said.

The supervisor said the town is looking forward to finishing Al Walker Park, but before this facility is finished, the town will have started refurbishing other parks.

"Every chance we get, my administration is focused on infrastructure and parks improvement," Smyth said.