Playland pool saved from the ax, will get $9.6M upgrade

The pool would be rehabilitated in a $9.6M project.

Mark Lungariello
Rockland/Westchester Journal News

RYE - The Playland pool will be spared in a $9.6 million renovation plan agreed to by Westchester County lawmakers.

The deteriorating pool, on the boardwalk of the county-owned Playland amusement park in Rye, faced possible demolition in a deal to hand over management of the park to a private company called Standard Amusements.

The original plan was to fill in the pool and replace it with a beach-front dining plaza overlooking the Long Island Sound, but that proposal faced opposition from the start from Legislature Vice Chairman Jim Maisano, R-New Rochelle.

“I never imagined that was a great use and it certainly wasn’t a better use than a pool,” he said.

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Maisano, who as a child swam in the pool during the annual county swim championships, had said from the start that eliminating the pool was a dealbreaker. Others said rebuilding or repairing the aged pool would inflate the cost from $2.7 million to more than $10 million. Some critics noted that swimmers would still have access to beach waters mere yards away.

A yearlong deadlock ensued that has been cited by officials for justification in delayed payments from Standard. Twelve votes were needed from the 17-member county Board of Legislators, but that number was difficult to come by among the nine Democrats, seven Republicans and one Conservative Party member.

Lawmakers were able to get to 12 votes by Friday, and the resolution to approve the $9.6 million was set to be discussed in the legislature’s Budget and Appropriations Committee on Monday. It was expected to be voted out of committee for a full legislature vote on Monday evening.

The money will fund new mechanicals, lighting, decking and other work.

Legislator Catherine Parker, D-Rye, said that removing the pool would have had a negative impact on lower-income residents and children who lack other swimming options in the summer.

“I actually think that that pool is pretty important to the people along the Sound Shore that can’t afford a private pool,” she said.

A spokesman for County Executive Rob Astorino declined comment until after a vote Monday. Astorino had favored demolishing the pool, but is expected to sign off on the rehabilitation plan.

As part of the overall deal with Standard, Westchester agreed to pay $30 million to upgrade the facilities as landlord. Standard will make $28 million worth of improvements on its own. The rehabilitation of the pool will increase the money the county is spending to renovate.

A deadline for Standard to pay $750,000, part of its upfront payment, has been pushed back several times until the fate of the pool was decided. The new deadline for that payment is Dec. 31.

Twitter: @marklungariello