Can Public-Private Partnerships Restore Schumacher House and Revitalize Clinton G. Martin Park?

I recently read a passionate and educational letter in the New Hyde Park Illustrated News and New Hyde Park Patch from community acclaimed and long-time /New Hyde Park active citizen . She’s a great woman and has spent a good amount of time working hard to give this historic building the restoration it needs.

I felt inspired by her article to share an idea I had on how we could revitalize both the house and the park it sits in.

What we need to do with the whole place

When I look at Schumacher House, I see more than the crumbling building my friends and I swore was haunted back in high school. There’s a community center; tennis, basketball and handball courts; a playground; park area and the main feature of the outdoor seasonal pool adjacent to Schumacher, all of which comprises .

I think that to save the house we need to do three things: give it a use functional to the community and capable of creating revenue to pay for its restoration; make it and the entire park more pedestrian friendly and accessible, connecting it more actively with the community; and add or revitalize amenities and features to the park to make it more of a destination and "place to be" than it is today.

What the new Schumacher house could look like

The first order of business is the house itself and how to connect it with the rest of the park and make it accessible and beneficial to the local community.

I propose that the renovated Schumacher house contain a small café and coffee lounge open to the public on its main floor, a gallery and expanded lounge/meeting area in the basement garage and ramp, and a small catering hall space on the second floor. The remainder of the basement would be used for services, offices and storage.

The interior design can be made graceful with a Gold Coast or Colonial Era theme and incorporate an entire museum of North Hempstead’s and Schumacher’s history within it through pictures, small exhibits and encased antiques placed throughout the rebuilt house. This will give the house an educational function which I recall some local civic organizations proposed in the recent past while also creating an open, entertaining place to present history in.

Outside between Schumacher and the tennis courts and linking to the rest of the park could be a small decorated plaza with stone floors, benches, a fountain and street lamps. A community garden could be placed in the North and East side of the house. The plaza, house and basement gallery could be all converged together for special events too, or when open to the public (95 plus percent of the time) become a popular place for people to hang out, especially pool goers in the summer and the rising number of people who play tennis at Clinton G. Martin's courts year-round. The tennis crowd alone could make Clinton G. Martin and Schumacher house into a sporting attraction in the same way golf does locally.

Speaking of the pool and sports areas...

I propose that the outdoor pool and its service building be revitalized.  Bringing in a tenant party with a company such as Gold's Gym could create an entire gymnasium and sports center in a new building where the pool equipment, locker room and park office building is currently located. The deal would require from the partner a special discount to all park residents or even an exclusive agreement to service only park district residents and their guests in a manner such as today. This gym and sports center would be open year-round.

Pool admission would operate the same way it does today and could be kept separate from the private sector partner’s facilities. The basketball, handball and tennis courts would be benefited by the greater trust (mentioned below) and so while being likewise renovated they would remain completely free for park district residents to use. Nonprofit, free fitness seminars could also be held in both the sports center and outdoor areas.

Another exciting idea: the pool itself can be opened all year through a simple retractable roof system which during the cold part of the year would insulate the pool area at room temperature and during the warm part be fully exposed to the atmosphere. This could also make Clinton G. Martin the alternative to the pool at North Hempstead Town Park if the landfill continues to cause damage to the property.

The parking lot

The parking field would retain its use although the immediate one near the pool and community center could be largely chopped off for beautification and space for the sports center. The remaining lot could be used for seasonal concerts, miscellaneous sports events, local fairs and community fundraising events.

The park itself

The most important feature is making all these different features succeed in linking them to the community and each other.

I propose a decorated, very nicely and ornately-landscaped set of paths going from the Marcus Avenue entrance throughout the park to a second New Hyde Park Road entrance and a pedestrian crossway to the Pathmark Shopping Center. The surface can be cobblestone or light pavement lined with the trees, various flora, a small park with attached brook in some parts and antique-style street lamps; again with an "Old World Charm" theme. This would be made most prominent around the playground and basketball/handball court area which today is mostly unused space; and it would link every section of the park beautifully.

How to organize the effort

How I propose making the whole idea work is simple. The Town would continue to own the property itself and the parks/recreation department would remain as the Town’s administrator for the park.

A nonprofit corporation, acting as a community trust with a volunteer board of trustees would be formed. The board would consist of a revolving membership of individuals active in the community, one or more Town council members and the Supervisor. The Town and parks/recreation department would lease the park property to the nonprofit corporation for $1 a year.

The agreement will be that the nonprofit raise the money to restore, enhance and maintain the "new" park, Schumacher House included; manage in cooperation with the Town the entire revitalization process; and negotiate the public-private partnerships with the sports center and Schumacher House.

Raising the capital to revitalize and maintain the park

The investment needed for the revitalization could come in several forms.

Donations can be accepted with the reward of a small gift and a name on a prominent plaque in the park for larger donors. This could be how the "up front" construction for the non-service features such as the park trails, plazas and overall beautification could be financed.

A public/private partnership could be formed with lenders and investors for restoration of the Schumacher house and construction of the sports center. The sports center and café tenants would finance their own equipment and design (albeit in conjunction with the trustees for Schumacher) as they would if they were in a shopping center.

Revenues from gym and pool use would go towards paying off the cost of the sports center; and revenues from food sales and catering events will pay the cost of revitalizing and maintaining the Schumacher house.

A combination of rent from the cafe and sports center partners, an established trust from fundraising events and donors as well as a reduced amount of support from the Town budget would maintain the greater park. 

What a wonder it would be on a warm spring evening to walk from the parking lot along a calm early 20th or late 19/18th century streetscape to the newly refurbished Schumacher house, the lights inside glowing with welcome and the sound of music in the air; or to stroll with the grandchildren along the park paths on a brisk morning; or to finish up a workout session with a game of basketball with some friends at the basketball court...

With this plan, or a derivative thereof, Clinton G. Martin could come to be the community’s country club, accessible to all park district residents for free, with its clubhouse being the new shining symbol of the park and community: a rebuilt, revitalized and very much alive Schumacher house.

I am currently working on some concept designs for the new park and will update everyone when I release a gallery of renderings.