Eisenhower Park
Encyclopedia
East Meadow, New York
East Meadow is a hamlet in Nassau County , New York, United States. East Meadow is an unincorporated area in the Town of Hempstead....
bordered by Hempstead Turnpike on the south and Old Country Road on the north. At 930 acres (3.8 km²), it is larger than Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, with much of the area devoted to three 18-hole golf courses, including the Red Course, host to the annual Commerce Bank Championship
Commerce Bank Championship
The Commerce Bank Championship was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1988 to 2008. It was played annually in June/July in East Meadow, New York at the Red Course at Eisenhower Park. Commerce Bancorp was the main sponsor of the tournament....
(Champions Tour
Champions Tour
The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.The Senior PGA Championship, founded in...
). The park is home to the September 11th
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
Memorial for residents of Nassau County.
History
Part of the county park system since 1944, Eisenhower offers a full range of athletic and family activities, including some of the finest facilities in Nassau County, NY and an exciting schedule of summertime events.The Eisenhower Park property was in the early part of the 20th century part of the private Salisbury Country Club and included five 18-hole golf courses. During the Depression, the owners were unable to pay taxes and the property was taken over by the county. Subsequently, the county acquired additional land in the area. In 1944, Nassau County Park at Salisbury was established as part of County Executive J. Russell Sprague's vision to create a park that "one day will be to Nassau County what Central Park is today to New York City." The park was officially dedicated in October 1949.
On October 13, 1969, Salisbury Park was rededicated as the Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
Memorial Park at a ceremony attended by the 34th President's grandson, Dwight D. Eisenhower II, and his wife, Julie Nixon Eisenhower.
On March 11, 2004, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
made a visit to Eisenhower Park for the groundbreaking of a new memorial for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
.
On September 9, 2007 The memorial was officially opened to the public, the two 30-foot, semi-transparent, stainless-steel towers, created to resemble those of the World Trade Center, stand in the midst of a fountain alongside the lake here in Eisenhower Park. On the lawn are two pieces of steel several feet long from the trade center wreckage, surrounded by a garden of colorful flowers. On a long stone wall are the names of the 344 Nassau County residents who died September 11, 2001.
Nearby, a plaque honoring those who were killed in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania begins Our Story and says that the events that transpired that day ultimately changed the lives of all Americans.
The memorial, the culmination of five years of planning, was designed by the architects Keith Striga of Valley Stream and Philip Gavosto of Glen Cove. To help build it, more than 500 union members from Long Island trades volunteered time and materials.
Activities in the park
Athletics:- Batting cage with nine separate batting areas for varying pitching speeds.
- 17 baseball fields (14 for softball and three for hardball).
- 3 football fields.
- 4 soccer fields.
- 16 lighted tennis courts.
- A 25 meter Aquatic Center pool
Entertainment:
The Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre is an outdoor theater that hosts a full schedule of entertainment events during the summer, from concerts to movies.
Carltun on the Park restaurant, a privately run facility operated in a former country club. The Carltun offers a restaurant, bar, banquet facilities and a meeting room. The restaurant has played host to numerous events, including a fundraiser in 2004 for George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Golf:
The park features three 18-hole golf courses open to the public: the Blue, Red and White courses. The Red course, originally part of the Salisbury Golf Club and designed in 1914 by Devereux Emmet, is host to the annual Commerce Bank Championship
Commerce Bank Championship
The Commerce Bank Championship was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1988 to 2008. It was played annually in June/July in East Meadow, New York at the Red Course at Eisenhower Park. Commerce Bancorp was the main sponsor of the tournament....
on the Champions Tour
Champions Tour
The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.The Senior PGA Championship, founded in...
. Salisbury Golf Club also was the host of the 1926 PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
, which was won by Walter Hagen
Walter Hagen
Walter Charles Hagen was a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of eleven professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods . He won the U.S. Open twice, and in 1922 he became the first native-born American to win the British Open, which he went on...
. Located adjacent to the courses is a driving range with more than 100 stalls and night hours in season.
In addition to the regular courses there are 2 lighted 18-hole miniature golf courses.
Swimming:
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s...
, it currently hosts major swimming competitions and is also open daily to the public.
Located within the center is a renovated Health Club
Health club
A health club is a place which houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise.-Main workout area:...
that contains treadmills, arc trainers, stationary bikes, stair machines, free weights and an assortment of Cybex weight machines.
External links
- Nassau County 9/11 memorial Images From the Project Architects
- Nassaucountyny.gov/EisenhowerPark
- Nassau County 9/11 Memorial Photo- Located at Eisenhower Park
- Eisenhower Park Golf Course - LongIslandGolfNews.com
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