South Oxford Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, October 25, 2006

South Oxford & Barretto Point Capital Teams Honored At Best Of Parks Awards

On October 19, Parks & Recreation hosted the 5th annual Best of Parks Awards at the New York Aquarium.  Over the next few weeks, The Daily Plant will salute some of the winners.

The ability to take something damaged, unmanaged or completely forgotten and turn it in to something beautiful is a gift that our Capital Division gives to park spaces everyday.  To achieve such success requires the help of designers, contractors, project managers and administration who produce these works of public art.  This year’s Capital Team Award recognizes two such teams, South Oxford Park in Brooklyn and Barretto Point Park in the Bronx.

South Oxford is a beautiful new park, which has been converted from a derelict facility into a magnificent park space.  The designer worked to ensure unique details were instituted that expressed the character of the community within the park, such as a cat-tail themed spray shower, a connecting water garden for small children and exciting new play equipment.   The Capital Projects Team directed and aided the construction of South Oxford Park with efficiency and speed.  The construction staff manned the site through the winter months and worked diligently for rapid completion of the project.  The project was completed four months before schedule and under budget.  South Oxford is a great design that illustrates the spirit and personality of the community and satisfies this communities need for outdoor recreation space.
 
Barretto Point Park is a water oasis located on the southeast side of Viele Avenue between Tiffany and Barretto Street in Hunt’s Point.  The Barretto Point Park site housed a sand and gravel operation and an asphalt plant.  The Bronx Capital Team transformed this industrial site into a lush green park surrounded by water, with the skyline of Manhattan as its backdrop.  Barretto Point Park offers many standard park essentials such as new play equipment, a comfort station, a boathouse, a fitness area, a spray plaza and a picnic seating area.  It also has a large stone and grass amphitheater and stage overlooking the skyline vistas.  Built for neighborhood theatrical performances, children of all ages can perform plays, musical concerts, and recitals. Another unique characteristic is the sand volleyball area, defined by a low stone seating wall, which is adjacent to an enlarged natural sand beach.  Along the shore, there is canoe access and a sandy beach area to explore.  The Bronx Team has both transformed an old concrete lot to a beautiful park, and created a place where young imaginations can run wild.

South Oxford Park, Brooklyn    
            
David E. Martin   (Team Leader)     
Kevin Quinn    (Deputy Team Leader)    
Emmanuel Thingue   (Designer)     
Vladimir Biba    (Resident Engineer)    
William E. Walsh   (Director)     
Matthias Augustin   (Deputy Director)    
Patricia D. Doyle   (Contract Liaison)    
Portia J. Dyrenforth   (Capital Projects & Planning)   
Tulio S. Cabreja   (Former Deputy Team Leader)    
Theodore A. Kavvadias  (Environmental Engineer)    
Susan E. Coker   (Specification Deputy Director)   
Gerard E. Castagna   (Budget Coordinator)     

Barretto Point Park, Bronx    
 
Raymundo Gomez   (Team Leader)     
Andrew S. Penzi   (Deputy Team Leader)    
Ricardo A. Hinkle   (Designer)     
Joseph Sdao    (Resident Engineer)    
Carol Qu Yu    (Architect - Comfort Station)   
Susan E. Coker   (Specifications Deputy Director)  
Rachel L. Kramer   (Designer Support)     
Michelle Martell    (Capital Projects Liaison)    
Juan Alban     (Contract Liaison)     
Gus Anagnostakos   (Budget Coordinator)     
Manual Elken    (Consultant Engineer) 

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.”

Victor Hugo
(1802 – 1885)