St. Mary's Playground

NYC PARKS MEETS WITH BRONX COMMUNITY TO REPORT BACK ON ANCHOR PARK SCOPING IDEAS

St. Mary’s Park design underway for first phase of improvements focused on the ballfields and dog run

Tuesday, January 24, NYC Parks held a Community “Report Back” Meeting for the Anchor Park Project at St. Mary’s Park in the Bronx. Local residents attended the meeting held at Heketi Community Charter School, to review with Parks, the top concerns and priorities expressed at a public scoping meeting held for the project in November, and to hear how NYC Parks is planning to accommodate local interests in the proposed park master plan.

At 35 acres, St. Mary’s Park was one of five parks in the city selected to each receive $30 million in improvements through the Mayor’s Anchor Parks program. Each Anchor Park was selected based on historical underinvestment, high surrounding population, and potential for park development. The Anchor Parks program is part of NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver’s Framework for an Equitable Future, a commitment to create thriving public spaces for all New Yorkers.

After a scoping meeting in November 2016, NYC Parks’ designers compiled and analyzed community input, identifying matters which were of common concern. Among the chief ideas for St. Mary’s Park were:

• Improvements to the Track and Baseball Fields
• Making accommodations for other sports
• Adding more gathering spaces
• Adding new programming and activities at the Recreation Center
• Improving and enhancing the dog run
• Enhancing safety and improving lighting
• Reconstructing the comfort stations

Design is already underway for the first phase of renovations to the southeast corner of the park, which will address the ballfields and dog run. The project will also feature improvements including natural turf, irrigation, sports lighting, fencing, and landscaping.

The schematic design for the initial phase of the project will be presented to the local Community Board in March, along with a Conceptual Master Plan for the entire park. Additional phases outlined in the Master Plan will undergo their own scoping and input sessions before design begins.