In the summer of 2025, Marcos Baladron was in Herrick Park and heard a child ask his mother if they could go to Sag Harbor instead, because Sag Harbor had "a better playground." Baladron is the East Hampton Village administrator. He told The East Hampton Star that the comment "stung." He went on: "We can live with a lot of things in this village, but losing our kids to Sag Harbor is not one of them. It's a playground arms race now. We'll see them at the swings."
About a year later, on Oct. 16, the Village Board saw renderings of a $1.7 million replacement. Since at least 2019, every plan for Herrick Park has had to fit a playground in somewhere, and each time the playground was the phase the village put off. The plan now in front of the board moves it to the back of the park, beside the parking lots, so the lawn facing Newtown Lane stays open for the village's events.
Seven Years of Plans That Put the Playground Off
Herrick Park has been redesigned on paper several times. In 2019 the LaGuardia Design Group drew up a full plan for the park, working with a committee that included the Ladies Village Improvement Society. That plan was shelved after the 2020 village election.
Work picked up again in pieces. In May 2023 the playing fields and tennis courts were being redone, and the village administrator described the playground as a later phase, separate from that work. In March 2024, as The East Hampton Star reported, landscape architect Michael Derrig of Landscape Details presented a concept for the part of the park facing Newtown Lane. It had an allée of trees leading to an oval lawn that, he said, "could be used as an event space, where you could place a large Christmas tree." Like the 2019 plan, it placed the playground to the right of the entrance, with the newly rebuilt Roy Lee Mabry Memorial Basketball Courts to the left.
At that 2024 meeting, Mayor Jerry Larsen said the next step was a committee. When asked about timing, he replied, "All it takes is money." According to The Star's report, all the recent park improvements up to then, including the fields and the tennis and basketball courts, had been paid for with more than $1 million in donations from the East Hampton Village Foundation, with no tax dollars used.
The playground committee took shape in 2025. Then-trustee Sarah Amaden formed it, and The Star reported in October 2025 that she had been named liaison to the Foundation's Herrick Park playground subcommittee.
Where the New Playground Goes, and Why
The new design comes from Jack Kelly of American Recreational Products, the firm that built the playgrounds at the Springs School and John M. Marshall Elementary. It places the playground toward the park's south side, along the sidewalk between the long-term parking lot and the Reutershan lot. A new sidewalk would run from Newtown Lane through the middle of the park and connect to the existing walk.
The Star reported Kelly's reasoning for the location: "We wanted to make sure we kept plenty of room in the front of the park to preserve that natural beauty of the space, to ensure there's enough room for village events while also keeping children away from the street."
The earlier plans put the playground near the entrance. This one puts it as far from Newtown Lane traffic as the park allows and keeps the front for gatherings. The village's December calendar shows how much the front lawn gets used. The East Hampton Village Foundation lists SantaFest for Dec. 5, with Santa arriving by helicopter at Herrick Park at 11 a.m., a parade at noon, and a holiday tree lighting ceremony back at Herrick Park.
The village had also been getting the back of the park ready. A 27east report on the long-term lot described more than $1.4 million in renovations approved in February. The work merges the lot with its smaller neighbor behind one gated entrance and adds 26 spaces and an electric vehicle charging station. Baladron said the lot stays free, and he tied the new spaces to the extra parking a new playground may need.
Two Age Areas on Either Side of One Path
The new path splits the playground in two. Children 5 to 12 would play on the west side and children 2 to 5 on the east. A shaded seating area along the path is placed so a parent can see both play areas, the basketball courts and the lawn toward Newtown Lane.
| Ages 2 to 5 | Ages 5 to 12 | |
|---|---|---|
| Approximate size | 10,800 sq. ft. | 17,800 sq. ft. |
| Swings | 12, including two ADA-accessible seats | 8, including two ADA-accessible seats; the design also adds two seats similar to a tire swing |
| Signature pieces | Rock wall climber, Loop 360 slide, Vero wobbler, spring rockers, Visio Sensory Tunnel, Volta Inclusive Spinner for up to nine children | Level X Dome, overhead bars, rope tunnels, 360 Loop Slide, Innova Bridge, Avec Glider for up to seven children |
| Layout | All equipment set closer to the ground | 10 freestanding elements around a main structure, with wheelchair ramps into it |
Kelly called swings "one of our priorities," given how few the current playground has. By Kelly's count, the new design would bring the park's total to 20 swings. In the older children's area, a seating area and walkway would circle a large tree. Both areas would be surfaced in turf with what Kelly described as an antimicrobial, nontoxic infill. The turf would sit flush with the concrete sidewalks so wheelchairs can roll straight in. The equipment is made by Burke.
Kelly also explained why the accessible pieces sit in the middle of the playground: "too many times A.D.A.-accessible elements are resigned to the outskirts of playgrounds, but our design allows all children to be involved throughout the playground area."
The Sag Harbor Benchmark Took Years Too
The comparison the village wants to win is most likely with Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor. The Mashashimuet Park association says it started its playground renovation in early 2016, using ideas from Sag Harbor Elementary students, and hired Kompan to build it. Construction began in October 2018. When the old equipment came out, the Girl Scout-donated climbing rock and mushroom spinner were kept for the new playground, according to 27east's Sag Harbor Express coverage.
That means more than two years passed between the start of Sag Harbor's project and the first construction. East Hampton is on a similar schedule. Its committee was organized in 2025, and the earliest ribbon-cutting is late spring 2027.
The Money and the Calendar
Baladron told The Star that $250,000 has been raised so far. That is roughly 15 percent of the $1.7 million cost. The report did not say who raised it. Mayor Larsen's 2024 remark still applies: what's left now is mostly a matter of funding.
According to the village administrator and the village's meeting calendar, the schedule runs like this:
- Nov. 20, 11 a.m.: Village Board of Trustees meeting at 1 Cedar Street. The Star reported that a playground hearing is planned for the November meeting.
- Dec. 5: SantaFest, with the helicopter landing and the tree lighting at Herrick Park.
- Dec. 18, 11 a.m.: Board of Trustees meeting at 1 Cedar Street, the second meeting where The Star said a hearing is planned.
- March to May 2027: Projected construction window.
- May 29, 2027: Tentative ribbon-cutting, on Memorial Day weekend.
The construction window and the ribbon-cutting stay projections until the hearings are held. The hearings are the public's chance to speak on a design the village has been working toward since the LaGuardia plan was shelved. They are also the last scheduled stop before the playground's location, behind the lawn and next to the rebuilt lot, is final.
At Heskell Advisors, we follow village projects like this one closely, because a park, a parking plan or a public hearing shapes how a hamlet actually works day to day. If you own in East Hampton Village and want to talk through how projects near your property fit into your longer-term plans, we're glad to schedule a confidential market consultation.
