If it wasn’t for two Williston Park teenagers shut out of playing ball one summer, the village’s municipal pool may not have been built, according to the man for whom the pool is named.
Former Williston Park Mayor Roger Fay said last week that in the summer of 1961 two teenage girls in the town complained to him that boys were preventing them from playing on the ballfields at Kelleher Field.
“Those two girls put the seed in my mind,” the 96-year-old Fay said.
The pool opened in 1963, was named in Fay’s honor in 2006 and this Saturday will be scene of a celebration for the Roger Fay Williston Park Pool and Fay’s role in its construction.
“We were happy to be able to celebrate when Roger is still around,” said former Williston Park Mayor Doreen Ehrbar, who served as a trustee when the pool was refurbished in 1996.
The groundwork for the pool was indirectly laid in 1959, when the Long Island Rail Road was threatening to close the East Williston and the Albertson railroad stations and create a new station in the vicinity of the Old Motor Parkway. A portion of that road is Motor Parkway, which runs east of Willis Road, north of Broad Street where the pool is now situated.
To block that effort, Fay said he sought to purchase the land from Nassau County and in December 1961 succeeded in buying the land for $9,500.
The question of what to do with the land remained and Fay’s conversation with those two teenagers provided the answer.
In February 1962, Fay, who served as mayor from 1960 to 1968, appointed a five-person recreation committee to make proposals for the use of the land.
Fay said the committee unanimously favored building a pool on the land.
Early in June 1962, the committee conducted a subscription drive and residents were asked to advance a deposit of $15 per family toward an annual fee of $60.
The goal was 1,000 subscriptions by July 15 and Fay said a group of residents canvassing the village drew 833 pledges. The following month, the village board voted 3-1 in favor of a $275,000 bond to fund the pool project.
In early October, Fay said the village board commissioned engineer John Baffa to draw plans for a 10,000-square foot pool with facilities and equipment at a cost not to exceed $275,000, including Baffa’s fees.
The completion target date was July 4, 1963.
“It was my goal to see the pool built in one year,” Fay said.
Fay said more than 600 residents attended a February 1963 meeting to discuss the project, primarily addressing parking concerns. He said initial construction bids came in over the projected budget and were rejected by the board in early February. Baffa revised his bids and they were accepted in late March, Fay recalled, with construction starting in early April.
On July 3, parking lot lights were not installed, landscaping was not done and fencing was about 90 percent complete.
But the pool was operational and, forewarned, Fay wore appropriate attire for the opening on July 4th.
“I’d gotten the word I was probably going to be pushed in,” he said. Which turned out to be true.
Fay said he didn’t wear his watch and surprised those present by doffing his suit pants to reveal bath trunks.
Membership initially totaled 970 families, including some from outside the village who were sponsored by residents.
That same year, Fay noted, Village Hall, the Williston Park Fire Headquarters and the village water works were also built – a legacy that Faye takes great pride in.
“I’m very proud of all the activities,” he said.
The pool became the setting for community events, including an annual Miss Williston Park pageant and synchronized swimming team performances, pie eating contests and other festivities. The Saturday evening celebration revives the Harvest Moon Ball from past years, according to current Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar.
“It contributes to the whole community feeling. It’s an avenue for socialization,” Ehrbar said. “It makes the village a more intimate community.”
In the event program, Ehrbar writes that the pool has undergone many changes since that first summer. The bathhouse was re-built in 1991 and the pool had a make-over in 1996 with sun shelters and a slide. The Kiddie Pool was rebuilt to include a child-operated clown water shower.
Due to the damage from Hurricane Sandy, Ehrbar said the picnic area was redesigned with new fencing and an arborvitae. A new patio was built overlooking the pool near the picnic area.
A local band, “Acoustic Blue” will be performing at the event, which runs from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday night, Aug. 10 with a rain date of Aug. 11.
The $20 tickets include chips, pretzels, soda, bottled water, dessert and coffee. Those attending are invited to provide their own food and adult beverages.
