Six new pickleball and two basketball courts for additional resident recreation were planned for construction at Kristi Babcock Memorial Park in New Windsor. With these planned additions, the New Windsor Town Board, Recreation Director Matthew Veronesi and other town departments would hopefully like to see more new amenities added as part of a long-term recreation plan.

At the town board meeting on July 5, the board had determined a negative declaration for the park construction of the new courts. A negative declaration determines that there would be no adverse environmental impacts from the project. The town board also approved to apply for and accept, if awarded, a grant up to $500,000 with a 50% match by the town. The grant would be made available through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation.

Over the past several weeks, town board members have been determining their priorities when it comes to resident recreation. The discussion of a long-term recreation plan returned again at the work session for the New Windsor Town Board on Monday, July 31, where amenities such as a new gym facility, splash pads and community pool were presented during discussion. Over 70 acres of land are still available for potential development at Kristi Babcock which could lead to new locations for amenities if planned correctly.

Discussing a new gym facility, a gym facility today near Stewart Airport is not being used currently. The building is in need of rehabilitation however that does not seem to be the direction that the town is looking to go with that site. “It’s not just the mold, it was let go,” said New Windsor Town Supervisor George Meyers. ”I couldn’t believe the condition that it was in. We [New Windsor] are trying to sell it.”

Discussing the splash pads item, Meyers commented that the pads would only be available for a limited time of usage and the costs associated with the water usage can also be a factor in its operation. With a pool facility instead, it provides a place for residents to enjoy time with one another. A similar example of a place where families could go and congregate together was at Crest View Lake.

“The pool and the gym, okay, those are forever things the gym, you can use 12 months a year, the pool has limited use, the only good thing about the pool, it provides the younger families a place to congregate and meet other people,” said Meyers.

Councilwoman Eve Lincoln, however, sees the splash pads as an immediate amenity that would appeal to residents and can be the first step to larger facilities that the board can work towards.

“That’s something that we can do a quick turnaround on while we’re doing something large like a pool and a gym, because we know that’s going to take a lot more money and a lot more time,” said Lincoln. “Something small, like a splash park, is something we can give the residents in the interim as sort of like a, you know, “here’s step one of what we’re going to be working on these two, three other big things over the next few years.”

Similar to the pickleball courts and interest that has grown in the town, Councilman Stephen Bedetti suggested collecting public feedback from residents to see what they may want out of the park. “We put it out to the public and see what kind of input they have,” he said. “Maybe we’re missing something too, they give us some ideas.”

Kristi Babcock Park today features several baseball fields, which are used regularly for baseball tournaments. Teams from all over the Tri-State area, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York City use these fields. A playground for the children and families of the town, a pavilion used for larger events such as Community Day and National Night Out, several parking areas and a large open field are all available for resident usage. Several storage sheds are also located on the park grounds, utilized by the town’s building and grounds department.

For New Windsor, Kristi Babcock serves as the main park for the community, similar in usage as Delano-Hitch Park in the City of Newburgh and Chadwick Lake Park in the Town of Newburgh. “When you have the parking, you have the location, it’s kind of a central hub,” said Veronesi.

In Veronesi’s 17 years in New Windsor, this would be the biggest project during his tenure. “It’s not something we want to rush though we’d love to have it; we just want to make sure we take our time and get it right. It’s important to get other people’s opinions,” he said. “We just redid all of our playgrounds, and they’re big projects, but nothing to this scale.”

Amenities thought about from Veronesi were a fitness pad with an associated app for outdoor workouts, an indoor gym facility with several courts and turf field for sports such as soccer and lacrosse. A beach volleyball area, batting cages and tennis courts as well were also considered.

For Veronesi, he would like to hopefully have amenities and plans that he has worked on with the town board and his department come to fruition within the next five years. “I’m looking forward to whatever we do. It’ll definitely be with the community in mind first,” said Veronesi.