Jones Beach West Games

At the heart of Jones Beach State Park, West Games offers recreation, entertainment, and amenity in a seaside environment of wit and whimsy. Starr Whitehouse was retained by NYS Parks to revitalize three subareas within the Robert Moses-era site: an 18-hole mini-golf course, a 46,000 SF sports court, and an entry plaza with new ticket booth. The design energizes these amenities with native plantings and sculptural elements that play on the site’s location and its history as the nation’s first fully-planned seaside recreation area. Sea horses, a horseshoe crab, and other marine animals are incorporated as paving prints and sculptural elements. New and historic props recall the Jones Beach of the fifties or echo the airshow and other programming nearby. Plantings and grading carve out mini destinations like a boat prow water feature while curating views of the ocean and historic water tower. The reconstructed plaza serves both mini-golf and sports courts with a single ticket booth, uniting the bevy of attractions and enticing visitors in off the boardwalk. Circulation improvements ease access for maintenance vehicles, wheelchairs, and cyclists, enhancing visitor experience and operational efficiency. Flood-proof materials and hardy beachside plantings fortify the site, creating a resilient destination faithful to its history and updated for the present.