Attempts to purchase the land to preserve it as a public park had been ongoing for years prior to the park's creation in 2000. After the previous owners won approval to subdivide their property into several residential lots, preservation efforts intensified. The parkland was purchased in October 2000 for $17.7 million, with the cost split between New York State ($5.6 million), the Town of East Hampton ($5.5 million), Suffolk County ($5.4 million), and The Nature Conservancy ($1 million).[2]