Weeping Willow Park Opening Celebrated in Riverhead

It's the dawn of a new day at the site where a dilapidated Riverhead motel stood for decades.

This week, the Riverhead Town Board announced the completion of Weeping Willow Park, on West Main Street.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place Friday at 1 p.m.

The new park, which will feature a boat launch, was created with funds from a $500,000 grant awarded by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The goal was to create open space on the Peconic River and improve the natural habitat for all manner of wildlife, shellfish, vegetation and endangered species.

Razing the blighted Weeping Willow Motel, Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter said, helped improve not only the environment, but safety and public access to the site.

The .51 acre park will be used for passive recreation, he said, and “stimulate revitalization efforts on Main Street. Importantly, the project has removed a blighting influence in the downtown Riverhead business district and eliminated the significant discharge of wastewater and runoff from the site into the Peconic River.”

New picnic tables, trash cans and signs were provided Cornell Cooperative Extension, through a "Creating Healthy Places in Suffolk County" grant awarded by the New York State Department of Health, according to Susan R. Wilk, Creating Healthy Places in Suffolk County coordinator.

“The Town of Riverhead is proud to have rehabilitated this space and open this beautiful park up to our residents to enjoy for years to come,” Walter added.

“Removing the motel is another important step in protecting the Peconic River Estuary system," Riverhead's Community Development Director Chris Kempner said. 

The estuary is one of only 28 recognized by the federal government as an “Estuary of National Significance," she said.

An array of factors, including natural features, location, historical sensitivity, ecological significance, and ability to to add limited recreational activities and public access has made the Peconic River Greenway a priority acquisition on local, county, state and regional acquisition lists, Kempner added.