Rye Town Parks Commission Considers Management Options for the Park

Rye residents have enjoyed the lawns of Rye Town Park and Oakland Beach's sand and Long Island Sound or more than a century, but as time has passed,  many of their historic structures have aged and become underutilized.

At the March Rye Town Park (RTP) Commission meeting, Dan Tartaglia and Kristina Bicher of the Capital Committee, presented a plan to run the park under a "concession agreement" with a profit or non-profit group. Under the agreement that "private" group would take over operation and management of the park and be responsible for making needed capital improvements to the park and its structures. The idea is similar to what the county seeks to do with Playland.

Rye Town Supervisor Joe Carvin and other RTP Commission members complimented the plan after hearing the Capital Committee's presentation. The Commission intends to issue a Request for Proposal to find a group that is interested in this kind of agreement with the Town. The RFP emphasizes that the Commission is looking for a plan that addresses needed upgrades, considers the historical structures, and proposes a solution to parking and traffic issues. The RFP would be due on July 19, 2013. Read the full document in the PDF attached to this article.

Rye Town Park would not face the same challenges as the county has seen with Playland proposals because only one group, the RTP Commission, would need to make the decision. With Playland,  certain legal restrictions and disagreements between the county executive and some members of the Board of Legislators have complicated the agreement, according to Tartaglia. 

The Capital Committee also recommended retaining a planning consultant until a bidder is chosen and then to transfer the cost of the consultant to the bidder. Tonight, the Commission is expected to further discuss the plan to retain a planning consultant. The deadline for the planning consultant RFP will be May 8.

"The purpose of this is to tap the creativity of the public and private sectors to explore options of successfully creating a new purpose for the park's historic structures that is in keeping with the context of the park and surrounding community and honors the historic, architectural and social significance of buildings," the RFP reads. The RFP repeatedly sites public access, neighborhood impact, historic preservation, environmental impact and financial viability as the main goals. Watch the presentation here.