Picnic, beach and other facilities at Heckscher State Park in East Islip are not affected by the closure of the pool and campground. (NYSOPRHP)
New York State parks officials said the pool and campground facilities at Heckscher State Park in East Islip will be closed indefinitely.
The pool was closed because it is in a state of disrepair and the campground was shuttered due to the frequency of mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus being found in the area in recent years, according to a spokesman for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation.
The spokesman said the 42-year-old pool is broken beyond repair. It needs to be replaced and moved back from the eroding shoreline but the parks department does not have the funding for the multimillion-dollar project. The pool used to be open from July 3 through Aug. 15.
The campground had closed July 17 last year after health officials confirmed infected mosquitoes last year. Years prior, the campground had stopped taking reservations for August, the height of mosquito season, as a precaution.
Camping season at the park had been from May 28 through Sept. 5. It is unclear if the campground will reopen in the future.
Three Suffolk County residents died of West Nile virus last year, the most in one year since the virus first emerged in 1999. Three Nassau County residents died last year as well. All six were the only deaths related to the virus statewide in 2010.
Attendance at the park was 1.2 million last year.
