Park officials unveiled plans to install three state-of-the-art playgrounds, a fitness hub, and a seating area for seniors among a slew of other upgrades as part of a $5.6-million renovation of Bath Beach Park at a community meeting on Monday.
Under the new designs, the park at Bay 16th Street and Shore Parkway would trade in the greenspace’s dilapidated bocce court and beaten-down playground for a shaded comfort station tailor made for elderly park goers, along with new foliage, and three play areas designed for toddlers, pre-schoolers, and older children. The revamped park would also include a ping-pong table, chess tables, new ADA-compliant pathways, and updated light fixtures.
And that’s not all! The designs also call for a special fitness corner equipped with outdoor exercise gear perfect for cardio and strength workouts, which one Parks rep said will be the envy of other city parks when it’s completed sometime in 2022.
“You’re getting the Cadillac version in terms of what’s happening in the city,” the spokesman said about the fitness hub.
The park’s new design comes after community members pushed back on previous Parks Department design proposal, which pitched adding a skate park to the public plaza, which neighbors complained was a little too radical for their taste.
“There were a lot of concerns about the noise,” said Elias-Pavia. “The residents and attendants were not very happy with that proposal.”
But the schematics presented Monday drew high praise from the board’s parks gurus, who said the agency managed to find something for everyone.
“I think it has a little bit of everything, and it’ll provide for different age groups,” said Marnee Elias-Pavia, the district manager of Community Board 11.
Community Board 11 will vote on the Bath Beach Park proposal at its full monthly meeting in October, and the designs will be finalized by the spring of 2020, parks authorities said.
The Bath Beach renovations are part of a larger effort by Councilman Justin Brannan (D–Bensonhurst) to revamp southern Brooklyn’s public parks. Two weeks ago, workers kicked off renovations to Bensonhurst Park, but Brannan said that’s just the beginning of his ambitions for local parks.
“I have made it my mission to give love to some of our most neglected parks and playgrounds that haven’t seen a renovation in many decades – especially in Bath Beach and Bensonhurst,” Brannan said. “This will just be phase one. There’s more to come.”
