Town Lauds Lowe's 'Heroes'

Grangebel Park, a public park in downtown Riverhead, received a much-needed facelift recently with an infusion of volunteerism and generosity from the private sector.

Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter lauded which made a generous contribution toward the sprucing up Grangebel Park, he said.

Lowe's, Walter said, has been a partner in breathing new life into Grangebel Park, renovating the parcel though the Lowe's Heroes program, a volunteer program, started in the 1990s, that offers employees the chance to "adopt" a project with a local nonprofit group to help better the communities where they live and work.

“We reached out to the Community Development Agency several weeks ago and said we wanted to partner with the town,” Doug Wadsworth, human resources manager at Riverhead Lowe’s, said.

After working with CDA director Chris Kempner, Lowe's chose Grangebel Park, with an eye toward improving trails, mulching, and "giving the park a general facelift," Wadsworth said.

Lowe's donated approximately $1,200 in materials, including 250 bags of mulch and 300 bags of pea gravel; the business also provided the use of eight rakes, eight shovels, gloves, two wheelbarrows and a Lowe’s delivery truck.

Volunteers from the nearby Riverhead Lowe’s on Route 58 turned out to put their best effort into beautifying a local green space.

“This is what a community is about-- the private sector joining with government to make our town better by beautifying a public park in downtown Riverhead," Walter said, adding that volunteers, who worked diligently, did so on their own private time to make a difference and improve the park for all.

Grangebel Park has seen a wave of revitalization in past months, with a $1.5 million renovation, including pedestrian walkways, bike paths, a performance platform, new bulkheadng and a fish rock ramp to assist with spawning of alewives upstream.

Walter has said he would also like to someday see performances in Grangebel Park.

Grangebel Park, built as a private park in the late 1880s by then Riverhead attorney Timothy M. Griffing, was named after his three daughters, Grace, Angeline, and Mabel -- and was eventually opened to the public.

Other efforts to spruce up the downtown Riverhead area include 18 bike racks sited throughout the community. The racks are one of the latest in a series of efforts, including the community garden and a new playground, to revitalize the area on the Peconic Riverfront for residents.