By Madison Warren
Photo Credit – Madison Warren
This past week, Legislator Dominick Thorne officially opened Patchogue’s Canaan Lake Park.
After a long journey of hard work and dedication from countless individuals, the park is now ready to welcome the community and create special memories for families for years to come. The revitalized space features a wide range of new additions, including updated fencing, a restored swing set, a flagpole, a kayak rental stand, improved trails, accessible features for individuals with disabilities, expanded shoreline access, and clear emergency routes for first responders.
Canaan Lake Park, also known as the Richard Monko Preserve at Canaan Lake, is the perfect blend of history, nature, and recreation, located in North Patchogue. This has been a multi-phase, multi-million-dollar undertaking. Before this grand opening, the area had been overgrown and swamp-like for years; the lake had been completely drained, dredged, and refilled. After eight months of hard work in the area, it underwent a complete transformation.
Legislator Thorne did not achieve this transformation alone. He praised the skilled county employees and dedicated parks department staff, as well as the county’s funding and local volunteers’ fundraising efforts, all of which contributed to revitalizing the park for the community.
Thorne said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, “We have the best parks in the county. We have the best people in the county, and this is all part of our job to make sure that it stays the best.”
In 2018, the lake was drained and left empty for several years, reduced to little more than a shallow swamp. Once the debris and invasive growth were cleared, it was finally ready to be refilled in 2021. Although the restoration was ultimately a success, there were complications along the way that Legislator Thorne had to address. Nearby residents began to experience flooding in their basements as the change in groundwater flow left water with fewer places to go, causing it to back up into residential foundations. When this issue came to Thorne’s attention, he identified a simple yet effective solution: removing a weir board to relieve the high hydrostatic pressure. Once adjusted, the flooding stopped almost immediately.
The next step after successfully refilling the lake was to restore the aquatic ecosystem. Resident of the area, Ray Crescenzi, took it into his hands to not only raise $2,500 from the rest of the community, but also put in his own $5,500 of his own money to buy bass and minnows to accelerate the rebuilding of a healthy fish population.
Now, with a revitalized lake, thriving wildlife, and a beautifully restored recreation area, this is precisely what Suffolk County and local advocates envisioned when they set out on this project. Their goal was not only to create an exceptional space for the community to enjoy, but also to revive a historical treasure of the town. In the late 19th century, this land was known as a modest vacation and resort destination along the lake. By the mid-20th century, however, as people began flocking to ocean beaches, the area’s resort charm began to fade. The surrounding land grew increasingly suburban, with homes and commercial development, while the lake itself declined due to overgrowth and neglect. Today, with this new chapter underway, the future of the lake and the park looks brighter than ever.
Legislator Thorne has numerous plans for enhancing this park, and the opportunities it presents are endless. When he came to what is next, he said, “We have to worry about water quality constantly. Because cesspools surround this, we’re looking more and more at protecting our environment and protecting our parks. We’ll add more amenities here as time goes on.”
He expressed how incredibly proud and amazed he is by the transformation that has been accomplished, stating, “This park is once again beautiful, and once again usable for the community. This is a small part of what we’re doing here in Suffolk County to bring back this area as a destination location.” A heartfelt thank you to Legislator Dominick Thorne and to everyone who contributed to making this park a new staple of the community — a place that will be enjoyed and cherished for generations to come.
