Courtesy Courtesy Chazen Companies
The old basketball nets have come down at Derby Park — the first sign of the once immensely-popular park’s $1.8 million transformation into a newly revitalized community athletic complex and festival space.
When the next ball swishes through the net, it will be part of the grand opening ceremony for the new Moran Derby Park, renamed in recognition of the $500,000 donation from longtime local businessmen and philanthropists, brothers Brien and Mike Moran, which kicked off project fundraising in June 2019.
All that’s needed now is to raise the final $400,000 — a task the Derby Park Revitalization Committee is tackling in earnest this holiday season with a goal of opening the new facility in the fall of 2021.
“This park will belong to the families of our community,” said Mike Moran, “and Brien and I are sure we’re going to see a lot of old friends step up to help — people with lifelong ties to Derby, as well as many of our customers from over the years. We are looking forward to seeing their names join ours in being a part of this project.”
“After 18 months of largely quiet, but highly successful fundraising, we’re ready to ask families and businesses from across Washington, Warren and northern Saratoga counties to help us score the winning goal, hit a home run, nail the buzzer-beater and every other sports analogy you can think of to get us over the finish line,” said Hudson Falls Mayor John Barton. “Moran Derby Park will be a true regional community asset and we’re hoping people will think of us in their holiday season and end-of-year giving.”
The new Moran Derby Park will feature a new basketball court, a regulation-size soccer field; a softball field; three pickleball courts; a quarter-mile walking path; two new event spaces for arts-and-crafts shows and other community festivals; all-new lighting; more attractive landscaping and fencing; and a new parking lot.
For generations of families from Hudson Falls and across Washington, Warren and Saratoga counties,
Derby Park was a recreational and social destination — home to high school boys and girls basketball leagues, adult softball leagues, semi-pro Greenjackets football games, winter ice skating and summer recreation programs. Traditions ran deep, friendships were forged, memories still abound.
The same can be said of the Moran family’s legacy in the community. Brien and Mike Moran first became part of the Hudson Falls business community in the late 1950s and early 1960s, working with their parents, Henry G. and Gladys Moran, in operating the family business, H.G. Moran Sporting Goods. The brothers took over ownership of the store in 1970 and grew it into Moran’s World of Sporting Goods, the largest sporting goods superstore in the Capital Region, by the early 1980s, while also launching a number of other businesses.
The Derby revitalization project was unveiled in June 2019 with the announcement of the Morans’ gift.
The village has since secured a $600,000 grant from the state Office of Park, Recreation & Historic Preservation, and the Derby Park Revitalization Committee has raised approximately $300,000 in generous donations from the Sandy Hill Foundation, Wheelabrator, Boralex and community residents.
The project was initially expected to cost $1.4 million, but delays related to COVID-19 and increases in estimates for construction materials have driven the total price tag to approximately $1.8 million.
Tax-deductible donations of all sizes are welcome. Gifts of $1,000 or more can be spread over three years, and will be recognized on a Wall of Distinction at the entrance to the new Park. For those looking for a unique gift for the holidays or other special occasion, commemorative engraved bricks can be purchased for $125 and will be placed along a new walkway running from Coleman Avenue to William Street at the park.
Pledge forms are available at www.villageofhudsonfalls.com or by calling Village Clerk Ellen Brayman at (518) 747-5426, ext. 205. Donations can also be mailed directly to Derby Park Fund, Glens Falls National Bank, ATTN: Erin McLaughlin, 3019 State Rt. 4, Hudson Falls, NY 12839.
The Derby Park Revitalization Committee is made up of Dan Van Wie, Joe Melucci, Em Lewis, Mike Moran, Tom Van Arnem, Erin McLaughlin, Kingsbury Town Supervisor Dana Hogan, Mayor John Barton, Village Trustee Bob Cook, Village Trustee Mike Horrigan, and Village Attorney Bill Nikas.