Parks Department presents plans for two Bushwick parks

Park improvements in Bushwick were unveiled during the Brooklyn Community Board 4 meeting Wednesday night at the Hope Gardens Senior Center.

Representatives from the Department of Parks and Recreation presented plans to build Rheingold Park on a currently vacant half-acre of land at the intersection of Bushwick Avenue and Beaver Street.

“Some of you know may the site,” said Mark Bunnell, partner at Quennell Rothschild and Partners, a design firm working on the agency’s behalf. “Until recently it had buildings on it, but now it is a vacant zone available for development as a park.”

The designs for this park include a play area for young children, seating area with benches and game tables, trees and plants as well as other green spaces, a new two-and-a-half-foot high perimeter fence, new repaved sidewalks and new lighting, water, and electric going to the park.

Members of the community had concerns over their safety with the construction of this new park. The height of the fencing around the park separating the playground from residential homes was an issue.

To address these concerns, the Parks Department will take the plans back and evaluate what measures can be taken to resolve the fencing issue.

Agency representatives also reviewed plans to build a comfort station at the Green Central Noll baseball field, bound by Evergreen Avenue, Central Avenue and Noll Street.

The park is separated into three specific parts, a children’s playground, a baseball field in the center, and a plaza on the other end of the park. The comfort station will be erected near the playground section of the park, just outside of the little league baseball field.

“This is sort of well outside of your average little league ball field. We’re not concerned about balls getting out here, this is three hundred feet [from home plate to center field],” said Kate O’Malley, deputy director of architecture for the Parks Department. “We’re also proposing to put in an eight foot chain link fence that would sort of catch any potential balls. This will allow us to connect the comfort station to the playground via steps on the side, and to put in an accessible ADA ramp.”

The comfort station will have a men’s bathroom and a women’s bathroom, along with a storage area for park equipment.
The project is slated to begin in July of 2016.

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