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Proposed Field House At Rye Playland Scaled Back

RYE, N.Y. -- The size of the field house proposed at Rye Playland has been scaled back as county legislators begin analyzing Sustainable Playland Inc.'s plans to renovate the amusement park.

The field zone proposed for Rye Playland has been reduced from 95,000 square feet to 82,500 square feet.

The field zone proposed for Rye Playland has been reduced from 95,000 square feet to 82,500 square feet.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue

The field house has been reduced from 95,000 square feet to 82,500 square feet a 13 percent reduction. The section that is closer to the surrounding neighborhoods has been reduced, according to Bruce Macleod of SPI. This will increase the amount of parking by 100 spaces, and reduce the building's footprint to about five acres. The reduction was achieved by reducing space devoted to offices and other ancillary areas.

"As a result of several public meetings in Rye and taking all the input from the two advisory committees in Rye and the citizens, we've gone back to Playland Sports and said the issue that we see coming out of the community is, for the current time, the size of the field house," Macleod said. "I think it is a big step and it reflects what, from the operators' point of view, is kind of the minimum that they can go to in the economic sense of the plan."

Members of SPI and the County Executive's office met Tuesday with the Labor, Parks, Planning and Housing Committee of the County Board of Legislators to begin the process of analyzing the Playand Improvement Plan and determining what questions and concerns need to be addressed. 

The first year of the plan will focus on building the field house, upgrading some rides at Kiddlyand and cleaning up the miniature golf and Fountain Zone area. Central Amusements, the company that will operate the Amusement Zone, will spend most of the first year understanding the operations of the park and its maintenance, with an eye on taking over  in 2015.

SPI is also finalizing agreements for operation of the Ice Casino, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Repairs on the Ice Casino are expected to be finished this summer, with an anticipated opening in the beginning of September.

"We are going to be scheduling ice time, with the understanding that we could be turning this over to an operator at a time in the near future," said William Mooney, senior assistant the county executive.

The committee will be holding a meeting at Playland next Tuesday, March 18 at 9 a.m. Representatives from SPI will take the members through the aspects of the Playland Improvement Plan, and will be using cones to map out where the field house will go and how big it will be.

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