May 25, 2016 2 min read fort greene

$5 Million Awarded To Fort Greene Park For Improvements

The northern perimeter of Fort Greene Park (Courtesy Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership)

Fort Greene Park has won $5 million earmarked for capital improvements thanks to overwhelming public support received during the New York City Parks Department Parks Without Borders initiative.

The announcement was made by NYC Parks and Recreation Commissioner Mitchell Silver on May 24 at the Parks Without Borders Summit at the the New School University Center (63 5th Avenue in Manhattan), according the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership (MARP). It follows a campaign by MARP and the Fort Greene Park Conservancy to raise awareness and support for the improvements.

“These projects will now enter our multiple-step capital project process. This process includes design, procurement, and construction,” according to the Parks Without Borders Project website.

The selection of Fort Greene Park. (Photo by Fort Greene Park Conservancy, courtesy Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership)

Fort Greene Park received the second most votes of any park in Brooklyn, just after Prospect Park.The changes will be focused on the northern perimeter of Fort Greene Park on Myrtle Avenue.

There are a long list of sought-after improvements. As we reported back in February:

The hope is to use the funding for temporary or permanent seating along Myrtle Avenue and at the Myrtle/Washington Park corner entrance, replace/repair the BBQ pits, add lighting and wayfinding/educational/history-referencing signage, add workout/fitness equipment, improve/repair the pathways and gathering spaces, and turn “hardscapes into greenscapes” by strategically adding foliage along the park’s borders.

Voting was conducted through a website set up by Parks Department. Voters selected the types of improvements they thought were necessary for the parks, such as “add new entrance” and “seating.”