Scott Smith has taken the town’s “Longshore Community” survey. Like several other Westporters who commented on “06880,” he finds it focused too much on certain areas, not enough on others.
Scott — an ardent environmentalist, and a golfer — is not some Johnny-come-lately-to-Longshore. Over a decade ago, he chaired the 50th anniversary celebration of the town’s park purchase.
He writes:
I’ve taken the Longshore Club Park survey, and, frankly, I’m alarmed. With its odd insistence on parking and flooding issues, and in light of recent public comments about selling off precious riverfront property inside the park, the effort fairly shouts “hidden agenda.”
For starters, why was Stantec, a Canadian firm, hired to formulate the questions, and whose interests do they serve? And why was any discussion of the fate of Longshore Inn largely omitted? Anyone who is familiar with Longshore operations knows the future of the public park is inextricably linked with the prospects for the property’s landmark inn, restaurant and banquet facility.
Inn at Longshore and 18th hole (Drone photo/John Videler for Videler Photography)
Then there’s the sorry history of the town’s ineptitude of managing our public assets, Longshore included. For all the talk of parking problems, know that for decades the town has hogged spots in the marina lot to warehouse trucks and other equipment, very little of which is actually used at Longshore. The town has long used and effectively trashed the green building next to the tennis courts. Once the starter shack for the golf course, why keep this prime property as a work shed? (The golf maintenance company has its own well-equipped facility in the middle of the course.) The town has also allowed the refuse dump in the middle of the park to sprawl into an unsightly mess of a dumping ground.
Like any lover of Longshore, I have my own ideas and dreams for this crown jewel of 06880. I can’t imagine Longshore without its pool complex, though surely the locker rooms could stand to be refurbished. And I’ve long argued for constructing a new, much-needed multi-purpose clubhouse, to serve not only golfers but all users of the park, including those who seek more access to Westport’s scenic waterfront.
I like the idea, long promoted by Sean Doyle and other golfers, to tear down the ramshackle golf building and situate the new clubhouse on the knoll between the two parking lots adjacent. With the state’s forthcoming dredging of the river, and the recently announced plans to add a ferry service from the envisioned “Hamlet at Saugatuck,” it makes perfect sense to add launch facilities for the growing numbers of kayakers, paddleboarders and other low-impact water enthusiasts seeking to enjoy the harbor and river.
And though I served on the Golf Advisory Committee for over a decade, I can see giving up the driving range, in favor or a coastline walking path and pollinator gardens, perhaps with an expansive “Himalayas”-style putting course for families. (I wouldn’t dream of building on the point, as who knows what toxic nightmares lurk under the surface of that onetime dump.) Heck, I’d even be willing to give the pickleballers a couple more courts, as long as they promise to shut up about their sport.
The point is, everybody has their own “what you oughta do” at Longshore. Starting that process with a guided, biased survey and lack of transparency is no way to begin the conversation.
(The Longshore Community Survey is available through June 14. Click here to see.)
Another view of Longshore.