‘This will be Billy’s park’

A commemorative press conference was held on Friday, Oct. 6, in front of the future Roe Park in Blue Point, where elected officials, civic leaders, and the Schettino Family gathered to celebrate the start of construction of a park that will be dedicated to Billy Schettino.

The final plan for the Roe Park revitalization was announced at the Blue Point Civic Meeting last year on June 6 by councilman Neil Foley (R-District 5).

The plan includes on-site parking, a skateboard/rollerblade area, a multi-sport court for basketball and deck hockey, a more traditional playground on a rubberized surface for ages 2 to 10, pavilion, and walking path around the entire park.

The dream and vision for a park came from local youth William Schettino, who tragically died in an accident before the plan could come to fruition, nearly 10 years ago.

Following his death in March 2012, Schettino’s family and friends continued to lobby lawmakers and elected officials for Roe Park to become actualized.

The Blue Point Civic Association became involved when then-legislator Robert Calarco attended a meeting and presented conceptual plans, but warned of a lack of funding.

BPCA member and local activist James Powers attended a Suffolk County Legislature budgeting meeting and gave an empowering, eloquent request for the additional funding to be assigned to the project.

The result was over $1 million allocated to the park from the county. After several additional years of negotiations, the land has finally been transferred from the county to the Town of Brookhaven.

The former site of Blue Point laundry has languished the past few years, but now is slated to become a cornerstone of the community with its revitalization.

The multi-sport court will have capability for basketball and deck hockey, and a more traditional playground area will be installed over a rubberized surface.

For families looking for summertime gatherings, a pavilion with picnic tables will be on-site.  To separate the park with the shared boundary of the Long Island Rail Road, a 14-foot-high fence will be built.

A tearful Luigi Schettino, Billy’s father, thanked the elected officials and civic leaders, remarking, “It was all you guys who made this happen,” and expressed repeatedly how honored he and his family were for the dedication to their son/brother.

Legis. Dominick Thorne (R) said, “Let’s move this project forward; this would not be possible with the constant efforts of councilman Foley and supervisor Romaine.”

Foley said, “This has been pretty much short of a miracle… Every project has a story behind it, and the story behind this one is the incredible young man, Billy Schettino... this is a true project between county and town government… this was truly a heavy lift to get this done.”

Depending on the weather, Foley said the project should be completed in six to seven weeks.