Letter: Structural issues at Rye Town Park must be taken care of

A front page article in the most recent edition of The Rye Record enlightened readers about the pressing need for repairs and restoration of underlying infrastructure including buildings, walls and parking facilities at Rye Town Park, some of which might not be obvious because of the hard work of park staff and the important contributions of the Friends of Rye Town Park to the beauty of the park landscape. As a founding member of the Friends of Rye Town Park and as a past president of the Friends, I have long been aware of decades of deferred maintenance of the park's historic buildings, walls, and parking facilities. As any property owner knows, ignoring regular maintenance serves only to increase the costs as both damage and prices increase as time passes.

In the past several weeks, an opportunity has arisen to efficiently and economically remedy structural damage to the historic bathhouse building in the park. During the course of window replacement, it was discovered that the exterior walls of that building were crumbling from years of water penetration. The Town of Rye has committed funds that will cover part of the cost of repairing the damage. If the City of Rye contributes the relatively modest sum of $80,000, all the structural issues can be remedied before winter storms cause additional costly damage. A construction crew is already present, so the work could be done quickly, saving money over the long term and preventing the possible closure of much-needed bathroom facilities in the park.

I urge the mayor and council of the City of Rye, in partnership with the Town of Rye, to fund these critically needed repairs as soon as possible.

David J. Rasmussen

Old Greenwich, Conn.

The writer is a former resident of the City of Rye and the Village of Port Chester.