helping to design a neighborhood park News
In a packed auditorium at P.S. 340 on Sixth Avenue and 17th Street, more than 50 Chelsea residents came together Tuesday evening to design a new neighborhood park.
After years of collecting signatures, fundraising, and mobilizing community support, the Friends of 20th Street Park organization convinced the Parks & Recreation Department to contribute $4.3 million towards construction of a new park, at W. 20th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, on the former site of a parking lot for the Department of Sanitation. A vacant building on the east side of the lot will also be demolished to add additional room to the park.
Attendees broke off into small groups, where they each met with a Parks Dept. designer to discuss their priorities for the park. Group members tested different arrangements by drawing on paper diagrams that represented the available space, keeping in mind potential problem areas like noise, shade, and security.
Sally Greenspan, a member of Friends of 20th Street Park who has lived in Chelsea for 35 years, said parks like this one help make the neighborhood more livable. “Otherwise it’s a very impersonal city…I just want a park for everybody, where you can sit down and have a sandwich.”
Leatt Beder-Galtier, one of the Parks Department designers who helped community members organize their ideas, said, “What we end up doing is we see what overlaps. If everyone says they want an open lawn, that gets higher priority.”
After about 45 minutes of discussion, the groups reconvened to present their findings. Common themes included the need for green space, an area for children and plenty of seating. Several also hoped for a water feature and WiFi coverage, and a few expressed interest in a mural on the wall of the parking garage on the west side to reflect the arts scene in the neighborhood. There was also a general consensus that the park would be better off without a “comfort station” (a Parks term for a public bathroom) because it would be costly and take up too much space in a park that will only have a quarter acre to work with.
Craig Church, another designer at the meeting who plans to be heavily involved in the design process, said, “We’re going to have to look at each ‘desire’ and try to fit it in the park.”
On July 14th, Parks designers will present a concept design to the Community Board 4 parks committee, and in the fall they will present a more detailed schematic design.