There is a great need in Westchester County for more athletic fields. All the fields in the county are used by interscholastic, recreation and physical education programs. There is little down time and many sport teams are begging for the opportunity to practice/play on fields, In many communities fields are used during the day, nighttime and weekends. Football, soccer, field hockey, baseball, softball, lacrosse teams use the fields during the fall and spring seasons. Let”™s provide student athletes with more fields and practice time ”” train them so one day some can become Super Bowl champions.
Earlier this year the County Executive announced a $1.2 billion private investment to build a bioscience and technology complex on a vacant site owned by the county in Valhalla adjacent to the Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College. I believe that since the land is owned by the county and since the county desires to make this a public/private venture, that some of the 43 acres that will be preserved as open space should be developed as athletic fields for use by students and sports teams based on Westchester County. The developer should be required to pay for the costs of the construction of the fields and a field house.
The development comprises three major, multi-phase components: West Research Village, Central Village and East Research Village. Fully built out, the new center would include 2,252,600 square feet of biotech/research space; 400,000 square feet of medical offices; a 100,000-square-foot hotel with 100 rooms; 114,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, and a 343,000-square-foot Children”™s Living Science Center.
Paul Feiner is Greenburgh town supervisor.
