Glen Cove hires LandTek Group to repair seawall, pavilions at Morgan Park
The City of Glen Cove authorized projects at Morgan Memorial Park, seen here in September. The city will reinforce the seawall and repair the park's pavilions. Credit: Morgan Campbell
The City of Glen Cove hired a company to rehabilitate the seawall at Morgan Memorial Park and repair dilapidated pavilions at the waterfront space.
The city hired the Bay Shore-based LandTek Group under two contracts totaling $412,755. City officials say the seawall rehabilitation needs to be completed after work on the project began two years ago. The project will reinforce the existing granite seawall with rapid-setting concrete. The barrier functions as a buffer between the city and Long Island Sound.
Before the first phase of the seawall project was finished, Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck said in an interview that "big stones were starting to lose their grip" and slip down into the waterway.
The pavilions at the park are falling apart, too, and officials will replace deteriorating brick at the pavilions with new masonry, officials said.
"If you stand under them, you’ll see major sections of the bricks missing," Panzenbeck, a Republican, said at a city council meeting on Sept. 24.
The city will also repair bricks at the park's lifeguard building and restore the Japanese teahouse area near the seawall.
A grant from Eastern Suffolk BOCES will cover the cost of the work, according to city documents.
Ann Fangmann, executive director of the Glen Cove Community Development Agency, said LandTek completed 75% of the seawall restoration in 2022. Securing the last part of the funding "has taken a considerable amount of time," she said.
The next phase of work at the park will start "as soon as possible," Panzenbeck said.
As time has passed, the state of the pavilion structures has worsened.
"It’s a very touch-and-go situation down there, with the pavilions especially," Fangmann said at the meeting.
Koorosh Leibowitz, 27, a grant writer for the Glen Cove CDA, said he recalls going to the park when he was younger and "how dilapidated it was."
"Even as I grew up into my teenage years, Morgan Park was kind of falling apart," he said.
Charlotte Roberts, 49, of Glen Cove, takes walks in the park for exercise. She said work has been done to rehabilitate the park but the pavilions "look like they're going to crumble at any minute."
In 2012, a gazebo at the park built in 1932 collapsed, Newsday reported. One fisherman taking cover under the gazebo suffered minor injuries when the structure fell.
The gazebo had been a centerpiece of the 40-acre park for decades. That is when the wealthy financier J.P. Morgan Jr. built the park to honor his late wife. Before that, the area was a steamboat landing in the 1800s.
Now, city leaders have similar concerns for the park's pavilions.
"They are very deteriorated; they're really not stable," Panzenbeck said in an interview.
Mike Yeosock, Glen Cove's director of public works, said the department roped off the three pavilions earlier this summer after a consulting firm said the public should not be allowed near them."The bricks have been significantly weathered over the years," Yeosock said.
"It's time to get the pavilion back in shape, keeping as much of the brick as we can to tie back to when it was built."
Councilman Kevin Maccarone, a Republican, raised concern at the meeting over LandTek’s ability to complete masonry work.
He voted against the resolution, which passed 5-2. Republican Councilman Michael Ktistakis also voted against the resolution. The measure to complete the seawall rehabilitation passed 6-1, with Councilman Grady Farnan, also a Republican, opposed.
The City of Glen Cove hired a company to rehabilitate the seawall at Morgan Memorial Park and repair dilapidated pavilions at the waterfront space.
The city hired the Bay Shore-based LandTek Group under two contracts totaling $412,755. City officials say the seawall rehabilitation needs to be completed after work on the project began two years ago. The project will reinforce the existing granite seawall with rapid-setting concrete. The barrier functions as a buffer between the city and Long Island Sound.
Before the first phase of the seawall project was finished, Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck said in an interview that "big stones were starting to lose their grip" and slip down into the waterway.
The pavilions at the park are falling apart, too, and officials will replace deteriorating brick at the pavilions with new masonry, officials said.
"If you stand under them, you’ll see major sections of the bricks missing," Panzenbeck, a Republican, said at a city council meeting on Sept. 24.
The city will also repair bricks at the park's lifeguard building and restore the Japanese teahouse area near the seawall.
A grant from Eastern Suffolk BOCES will cover the cost of the work, according to city documents.
Ann Fangmann, executive director of the Glen Cove Community Development Agency, said LandTek completed 75% of the seawall restoration in 2022. Securing the last part of the funding "has taken a considerable amount of time," she said.
The next phase of work at the park will start "as soon as possible," Panzenbeck said.
As time has passed, the state of the pavilion structures has worsened.
"It’s a very touch-and-go situation down there, with the pavilions especially," Fangmann said at the meeting.
Koorosh Leibowitz, 27, a grant writer for the Glen Cove CDA, said he recalls going to the park when he was younger and "how dilapidated it was."
"Even as I grew up into my teenage years, Morgan Park was kind of falling apart," he said.
Charlotte Roberts, 49, of Glen Cove, takes walks in the park for exercise. She said work has been done to rehabilitate the park but the pavilions "look like they're going to crumble at any minute."
In 2012, a gazebo at the park built in 1932 collapsed, Newsday reported. One fisherman taking cover under the gazebo suffered minor injuries when the structure fell.
The gazebo had been a centerpiece of the 40-acre park for decades. That is when the wealthy financier J.P. Morgan Jr. built the park to honor his late wife. Before that, the area was a steamboat landing in the 1800s.
Now, city leaders have similar concerns for the park's pavilions.
"They are very deteriorated; they're really not stable," Panzenbeck said in an interview.
Mike Yeosock, Glen Cove's director of public works, said the department roped off the three pavilions earlier this summer after a consulting firm said the public should not be allowed near them."The bricks have been significantly weathered over the years," Yeosock said.
"It's time to get the pavilion back in shape, keeping as much of the brick as we can to tie back to when it was built."
Councilman Kevin Maccarone, a Republican, raised concern at the meeting over LandTek’s ability to complete masonry work.
He voted against the resolution, which passed 5-2. Republican Councilman Michael Ktistakis also voted against the resolution. The measure to complete the seawall rehabilitation passed 6-1, with Councilman Grady Farnan, also a Republican, opposed.
Morgan Memorial Park upgrades
- The city hired the Bay Shore-based LandTek Group to rehabilitate the seawall and repair the pavilions.
- The project will reinforce the existing granite seawall with rapid-setting concrete.
- The department roped off the three pavilions earlier this summer over safety concerns.
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