Manhasset's Park Board showed how creative officials committed to the public interest can behave, within the law.
The resulting construction and landscaping projects made the Park Board a significant employer, especially during times when the economy slackened.
In addition to his civic duties on the Park Board, Jones designed thirteen recreation buildings between 1889 and 1930.
In 2001, the house opened as an interpretive information center, run by the Park Board.
In 1907, the Park Board was given jurisdiction of the plant site plus part of the pipeline right-of-way up the hill.
The plan, which has been approved, in principal, by the Park Board, would be cost-free for the city, which is suffering a fiscal crisis.
The Park Board decided that both concerns were valid reasons for a renovation.
The City and the Park Board are currently exploring what exactly the park should include.
A Park Board was formed in the early 1880s.
Jones donated the Gardens to the Park Board in 1924.