3 Photos
Southampton Town Trustee Bill Pell raises his hand at a presentation given at the Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School about the Cold Spring Pond Preserve he hopes to create as an environmental research facility.
Fifth and sixth grade students at the Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School weigh in with ideas for a facility geared toward education at Cold Spring Pond in Southampton.
Students were excited to be given the chance to offer ideas and help shape the future of the proposed Cold Spring Pond Preserve.
Southampton Town Trustee Bill Pell believes that when making plans for a new environmentally focused education and research facility, some of the best visioning advice comes not from pricey consultants or studies but straight from the mouths of babes.
That’s why Mr. Pell and Dominic LaPierre, a principal at Ashley McGraw, an architectural and educational design firm, took a field trip to the Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School on Friday, their first stop on a tour that will hit other schools in the municipality. They wanted to hear directly from young students exactly what they’d like to see developed on 55 acres of marshland and scrub forest that run along the eastern shore of Cold Spring Pond, where Town Trustees intend to site their Cold Spring Pond Preserve.
“This is one of the goals of my life,” said Mr. Pell, who added that he has already sat down with teachers representing the Hampton Bays, Southampton and Westhampton Beach school districts. “I want to give kids a learning environment.”
At the preserve, Mr. Pell said, students will have the chance to get up close and personal with horseshoe crabs, clams, oysters, ducks and other aspects of the town’s rich marine heritage.
Mr. LaPierre, who lives in Sag Harbor but whose offices are located in Syracuse, led Friday’s presentation, explaining to the school’s fifth- and sixth-graders the dreams Mr. Pell and his fellow Trustees have for the preserve—before asking for their input on the project. So far, plans include an outdoor classroom, a greenhouse, hiking trails and a possible shellfish hatchery.
“The most important thing is that this will be a place that teaches,” Mr. LaPierre said.
The hope is that the preserve will be utilized for field trips, allowing schoolchildren to explore the natural wonders that surround them close to home on the East End.
Asked about their favorite field trips, kids raised their hands and excitedly listed a bunch of different destinations, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ellis Island, the Long Island Game Farm in Manorville. They also noted a visit to Manhattan to see “Spiderman” on Broadway.
The new preserve, which will be sited just east of Shinnecock Hills, is expected to include at least one building, along with a series of trails and boardwalks. The bulk of the facilities would be situated on the eastern shoreline of a tidal pond, all with an eye toward educating students about the environment. The new preserve will be built with money given to the town by developers of the Sebonack Golf Club and private funds.
The preserve, which Town Trustees say will focus on teaching children about local waterways, has long been a pillar of Mr. Pell’s call to public service; he has advocated for the educational facility for years.
Mr. LaPierre asked students if their families own boats and how often they are able to get out onto the water. He explained that certain outdoor sports, such as boating, camping and kayaking, are under consideration as possible activities to be offered at the Cold Spring Pond Preserve.
“We live in a pretty unique place that allows us to get on the water,” Mr. LaPierre said. But unlike one-shot field trips, he added, “We want to make this a place you come again and again.”
Other activities that students said they would like to see offered at the facility were swimming, snorkeling, touch tanks, and sitting around campfires. “Spiderman can come flying over us!” added one spirited student, referring to the recent field trip to Broadway.
Children were asked to fill out index cards detailing their best and worst field trip experiences. Students noted that some of the best parts of those trips included visiting new places and sharing the adventure with friends. One student recalled her least favorable field trip: “I got bitten by a duck,” she said.
Mr. LaPierre said the goal of the school visits is to take all the suggestions collected from local students, put them in an “idea grinder,” and come back to meet with classes again as the plan evolves.
The land on which the preserve is to be sited was part of the historic Bayberry Land property. It was donated to the Trustees by the developers of the golf course when they purchased the parcel for $45 million in 2001. As part of the agreement, developers set aside $500,000 for the creation of the educational and environmental center, which will be managed by a not-for-profit organization, with oversight by an appointed board of directors and the Town Trustees. Plans for the facility currently include a new solar paneled building and a system that processes septic waste so that it can be fed to plants in greenhouses on the property.
Currently, an environmental inventory of the property off Cold Spring Pond Road is being conducted by engineering firm Nelson, Pope and Voorhis.
Eric Albert, who teaches sixth grade at the Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School, said the faces of his students lit up with excitement upon learning about last week’s visit.
“They’re involved,” he said about the role of his students will play in developing the preserve. “This makes them realize they have a say in what happens.”
