Northport OKs contract for phase one of Cow Harbor basketball court renovation

Northport Village last week approved a contract with a Bay Shore contractor to renovate and expand the basketball court in Cow Harbor Park. 

The village board on Tuesday voted 4-1 to approve a $159,986 contract with LandTek to complete the project, Mayor Donna Koch said Wednesday. LandTek designs, builds and maintains athletic field facilities and complexes.

The renovation includes demolishing the court and replacing it with a slightly bigger and wider one. The court will go from its current 53-by-40 feet to 66-by-50 feet, Newsday previously reported. The court had fallen into disrepair in recent years, Koch said.

Koch said village highway department workers will begin the first phase of the project, which will include demolishing the fencing and existing court, early next month. LandTek will then take about a month to complete the renovation project.

“It’s a relief to finally get this project moving,” Koch said Wednesday.

Phase two will involve landscaping and masonry work, Koch said, adding a start date for that project is not yet determined. 

Members of Northport High School’s 1995 Long Island champion boys basketball team first proposed refurbishing the court in 2021 after noticing it had fallen into disrepair. But a dispute among the village board over the scope of the project and its cost stalled the project.

On Wednesday, trustee Joe Sabia said renovating the court is good for the village, but he said he voted against approving the contract because the renovation will cost $40,000 in taxpayer money for labor and materials.

“We made a promise from day one that the court could go through as long as it would not cost the village taxpayers,” Sabia said. “It was all supposed to be done through fundraising.”

Koch said maintaining the park is part of the village’s stewardship.

“The court, the way that it is now, is a safety concern,” she said.

She said the estimated cost to the village using highway employees is $29,100. Cost of materials, including gravel, will cost the village $10,680, Koch said.

The village has more than $159,986 for the project, Koch said.

The renovation project will be paid for with a $75,000 state grant and about $110,000 in public donations, including about $20,000 raised by members of the 1995 team.

Trustees Dave Weber Jr. and Meghan Dolan voted in support of the contract.

Trustee Ernest Pucillo said he had a work commitment and missed the meeting.

Chris Wiebke, point guard on the 1995 team, said after all the delays he's relieved to get to this point and has "a tremendous amount of appreciation for all of the people who contributed to get us here.” 

Northport Village resident Kevin Kavanaugh said a bigger court in a quiet seaside park is a terrible idea. 

“Now you’re welcoming full court basketball games there,” Kavanaugh said. “With young adults and kids screaming and yelling — basketball is not a quiet game.”