TRANSPLANTING DAY A SUCCESS
On Saturday, June 7, Friends of Hempstead Plains partnered with the Lighthouse Development Group and Kellenberg Memorial High School students to help preserve the future of the Hempstead Plains. Native plants were transplanted from an eight acre site on RexCorp property at the corner of Glenn Curtis Blvd. and Hempstead Turnpike to the protected site of Hempstead Plains at Nassau Community College.
Three students from Kellenberg, Alyssa Simmonds, Saralee and Rebecca Martelly, and their teacher, Jacqueline Klimkowski, with Katrina Doell, Nicole Kingston and Drew Napolitano from the Lighthouse Development Group, and Harriet Carotenuto, Angela deCaprariis-Salerno, Tina McGill and Betsy Gulotta from the Friends, saved a piece of history by moving selected native plants (that would have been lost to development) to the preserved Hempstead Plains site. Additional volunteers from the Friends, Sandra and Marc Klocke, Rosann Gonzalez, and Joanne Defeo were on hand at the preserved site to prepare a place and receive the plants. Among the plants that were moved were Common Milkweed, Wild Indigo, Goldenrod, Daisy Fleabane, Blue-eyed Grass and Evening Primrose.
The Kellenberg students were enthusiastic, hardworking and played a big part in making the project a success. They will be involved again in the fall when the Friends plans to repeat the project to save the native grasses and fall-blooming plants. “It was exciting for everyone to work together on the transplanting”, said Jacqueline Klimkowski, who teaches biology and environmental science at Kellenberg. “This was a different way for some of our students to get an understanding of the Hempstead Plains by getting their hands on the land and working to help preserve it.”
Working with the Lighthouse Development Group (designated developer of the 150 acre site at the Nassau Veterans memorial Coliseum) begins a wonderful partnership for the future, as they are the closest neighbor to the Hempstead Plains. The Lighthouse Development Group has been supportive of the Friends and the future of the Hempstead Plains. Their efforts now and in the future will ensure that the Hempstead Plains will be protected and a prosperous neighbor of the Lighthouse at Long Island.
“Working with Friends of Hempstead Plains to preserve an important part of Long Island’s natural history has been a wonderful opportunity for the Lighthouse Development Group,” said Katrina Doell, Public Relations and Community Outreach Coordinator for the Lighthouse Development Group. “While the Lighthouse is the future, the Hempstead Plains are an important part of the past.”
For more information on the lighthouse project,
visit www. lighthouseli.com.
About the Lighthouse Development Group, LLC
Lighthouse Development Group, LLC, a joint venture between Charles Wang, the Founder of the Lighthouse project and owner of the New York Islanders and New York Dragons, and RexCorp Realty, LLC., Long Island’s largest owner, manager and developer of commercial real estate, has been designated the exclusive developer of the Coliseum site and has entered into a Development Plan Agreement with the County of Nassau. The partnership combines Charles Wang’s vision for the revitalization of the aging Coliseum property with RexCorp’s renowned expertise.
The Lighthouse project is the transformation of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum site and surrounding area into a modern 24/7 suburban center. The centerpiece will be a revitalized arena for the New York Islanders and New York Dragons, surrounded by exciting residential neighborhoods, lifestyle retail and entertainment venues, a sports technology center, multi-purpose athletic complex, state-of-the-art conference and exhibition facilities, a baseball stadium, and the first 5-star hotel on Long Island. The estimated $2 billion project is expected to generate almost $60 million of annual real estate tax revenue. An expected 17,000 construction jobs, thousands of permanent jobs and many new businesses will be created. Overall, the Lighthouse project will add more than $200 million of incremental revenue over the next 25 years to the County and the State from the renovation of the Coliseum alone and keep the New York Islanders on Long Island for decades to come.