Juniper Valley Park

The Daily Plant : Tuesday, December 9, 2003

VICTORY FIELD SCORES $1.5 MILLION RENOVATION

As the first flakes from this weekend’s massive snowstorm swirled down from the sky, Parks & Recreation broke ground for a brand new synthetic turf baseball field in Glendale, Queens. Despite the soggy weather and frigid temperatures, on Friday, December 5, representatives from local Little League teams joined Parks & Recreation’s First Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanagh, Queens Borough Commissioner Richard Murphy and Council Member Dennis Gallagher to kick off the reconstruction of Victory Field in Forest Park.

Victory Field, located on Woodhaven Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue, will receive a new surface of artificial turf made of grasslike blades with a base of crushed rubber pebbles. The City Council allocated over $1.5 million to reconstruct the baseball field.

"It is fitting for us to break ground on an artificial turf athletic field on a snowy day since these fields are much more durable than traditional grass fields," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "Artificial turf is the wave of the future. The turf plays and feels like real grass, but it has an advanced drainage system and requires far less maintenance."

Athletes of all ages will enjoy Victory Field’s new dugouts and backstop while spectators will be able to cheer from new bleachers. Landscaping will beautify the area and the field will also receive updated fencing and an improved drainage system. Landscape Architect Shirley Kindler-Penzi designed the field and Resident Engineer Helen Belner is overseeing the construction.

The first artificial turf field used by Parks & Recreation was a carpet-style field in Manhattan’s Chelsea Park. Recent parks to receive the new generation of artificial turf fields include Brennan Field in Queens’ Juniper Valley Park, the Parade Grounds in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, and Thomas Jefferson Park field in Manhattan.

Deputy Commissioner for Capital Projects Amy Freitag, Assistant Commissioner for Community Relations Edward Lewis, and President of RGMVM Little League Patrick Piteo, along with Kevin and Terrence Flanagan from the W.O.R.K. Little League, also lent their support at the Victory Field ground breaking on Friday.

Thanks to this reconstruction, Queens residents will soon be able to play ball at Victory Field on the same surface used by the pros. Come spring, the snowmen and snow forts in Forest Park will have thawed leaving in their wake a pristine field of dreams.

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