Article: Five parks in one

Tuesday May 26, 2009

FRESHKILLS Park will have five parks fully completed: the Confluence (made up of Creek Landing and The Point), North Park, South Park, East Park and West Park. Each area will have a distinct character and programming approach.

● The first phase of North Park is expected to begin construction this year and will be completed by early 2011.

● The Confluence is the cultural and waterfront recreation core of the park, sited at the confluence of Richmond Creek and Main Creek and encircled by the park road. Two developed areas along this loop are the main activity sites in the park:

– Creek Landing (8ha) will be designed for waterfront activities, including an esplanade, canoe and boat launch, restaurants, a visitor centre and a large event lawn for gatherings, picnics and sunbathing. The area will also allow for ample car parking and will be a central point of arrival and departure of park users.

– The Point (20ha) is designed to accommodate sports fields, event spaces, lawns, artwork and educational programming. A long promenade along the water’s edge will support restaurants, a banquet facility and an open-air market roof.

Old machinery and artefacts from Fresh Kills Landfill operations will act as outdoor sculptural pieces, and the old barges that used to ship waste to Fresh Kills will be converted into floating gardens.

The promenade will be a vibrant social place with fishing piers, a jetty and great views across the water toward the natural beauty of the nearby Isle of Meadows.

● North Park (94ha) will be characterised by simple, vast natural settings – meadows, wetlands and creeks. The area will feature paths and trails for walking, running, bicycling and skating encircling the northern mound. Scenic overlooks and spaces for picnicking, catch-and-release fishing and bird-watching will be provided.

● South Park (170ha) will provide large natural settings and active recreational spaces, including soccer fields, an equestrian facility and mountain biking pathways.

The initial phase of South Park’s build-out will lead visitors to the first publicly accessible part of what was actually former landfill.

South Park is expected to begin construction in 2012 and will be completed by 2014.

● East Park (171ha) has been conceptualised as a nature education area with specially designed wetlands, boardwalks and exhibits and public art installations. The large mound in this area lends itself to a variety of recreational uses, from golf and field sports to archery, informal pickup games, frisbee sport and picnicking.

● West Park (221ha) hosts the site’s largest mound, with the West Shore Expressway to the east and the Arthur Kill to the west. An enormous earthwork monument is envisioned atop the mound in remembrance of the Sept 11 recovery effort that occurred in this location.

Set on a vast hilltop wildflower meadow, the earthwork would be open to the sky and offer spectacular 360° views of the region, including a direct line of sight to lower Manhattan.

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This article was taken from: The Star Online: lifestyle: living 26 May 2009