After years of planning, Soundview Park finally has its new fieldhouse.
Students from P.S. 109 on Seward Avenue, Parks commissioner Adrian Benepe, Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, members of Community Board 9 and and members of Friends of Soundview Park cut the ribbon on the new building on Thursday, October 27.
The building will serve as the headquarters for all parks operations within CB 9, and will include space for general community use and restrooms for park visitors.
The planning for the $5.7 million fieldhouse began over four years ago. Over $4 million came from money allocated by the Mayor’s Office, and the rest from federal transportation grant funding.
Hector Aponte, Parks’ Bronx borough commissioner said the field house will be a mecca for visitors to the 93-acre Soundview Park.
“It’s an organizing point,” he said.
“It’s an attractive building,” Aponte said. “It’s larger than our typical comfort station, so it gives us room to have lawnmowers and vehicles in the building, and it’s a great amenity for the community.”
Aponte said the lengthy wait time before the building officially opened was because it took time to design, construct and a second contractor had to be brought in.
Soundview Park is also one of eight city parks being re-conceptualized as part of the Mayor PlaNYC initiative. It will soon have a new playground, a new rubberized running track, an artificial turf field, an amphiteater, and new comfort station.
“This new facility comes at a historic time for the Soundview Park,” Benepe said. “As part of the Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC program this local gem, long known for its great views of the Long Island Sound, will be transformed into a regional destination that will attract visitors from the neighborhood, the Bronx, New York City and beyond.”
Bill Weisbrod can be reached via e-mail at bweisbrod@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 742-3394.©2011 Community Newspaper Group
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