Tag: Capital Projects

PPA Profiles: Justine Heilner

July 1, 2014

Formerly a landscape architect at the acclaimed James Corner Field Operations, Justine Heilner was instrumental in the design of the city’s newest park, the celebrated High Line on Manhattan’s West Side. She recently joined the Alliance’s Design and Construction Office as the Senior Landscape Architect, supervising many of the new and ongoing improvement projects around Prospect Park.

A Brooklynite at heart, Justine and her family live in Park Slope, and consider the Park part of their everyday lives. This perspective has given her a good understanding about how the Park is used, and the challenges of maintaining its beauty. “We need to design the Park’s landscapes so they can take a good amount of traffic” she explained. “Prospect Park is a place that’s so loved, it can get loved to death.”

Justine is joining the Alliance at the tail end of Lakeside, one of the Park’s most ambitious restoration projects. She is currently overseeing the reconstruction of the Park Drive at Lakeside, which will improve pedestrian access to the LeFrak Center and make the Drive safer for all Park users.

Prospect Park has presented Justine with new and welcome challenges as a landscape architect. There is a modest budget to improve and maintain hundreds of acres of meadows, streams, woodlands and bodies of water. Drainage is one of the greatest challenges in the Park, particularly following the more severe weather patterns that have come with climate change. In her work, Justine is constantly considering how to incorporate more sophisticated design solutions into a historic landscape.

We look forward to seeing Justine’s work as the Alliance moves ahead with its next big focus, restoring the northeast perimeter and the Vale of Cashmere.

Construction Update: East Drive

June 23, 2014

The reconstruction of the Park Drive at the new LeFrak Center at Lakeside represents the final phase of Lakeside, the restoration of the southeast corner of Prospect Park. The reconstruction will improve pedestrian access to Lakeside, and reduce vehicular traffic on East Drive.

As part of Lakeside, a former parking lot was transformed into nearly an acre of new parkland. In order to accommodate vehicles during the ice skating season at the LeFrak Center, the road reconstruction project converts an existing paved area on Breeze Hill, which was historically a carriage concourse, into a parking area. The new lot is significantly smaller than the former lot, and retains the footprint of the existing paving, with the lawn restored. Vehicles will only have access to the lot during the winter ice skating season, which runs from mid-to-late October to mid-to-late March, and only during operating hours.

In addition, the road reconstruction project adds new plantings to the landscape, such as Red Twig Dogwood, Winterberry and Grey Goldenrod, and creates a vehicular entrance to the new parking lot from Lincoln Road, which eliminates vehicular traffic along the East Drive (the former lot was accessed from the Parkside Avenue entrance, which required travel along the Park Drive). As an added bonus, the project will alleviate flooding issues along the Drive by adding new leaching basins across from Lincoln Road.

The project is scheduled to be completed at the end of July.

From the Archives: 1912 Carousel

April 1, 2014

The Prospect Park Carousel is perhaps one of the most cherished destinations in Brooklyn. However, this is not the first Carousel in Prospect Park. Since 1874, Brooklynites have flocked to the Park to enjoy this warm-weather amusement. The original Carousel was horse drawn and located in the Vale of Cashmere at the northeast corner of the Park, which was designed as a play area for children. It was subsequently moved to the Long Meadow after a fire in 1885, in the area that is now home to the Picnic House.

Upon the creation of the Children’s Corner in 1952, the current Carousel was brought to the Park from Coney Island. A gem of craftsmanship, it features 53 hand-carved horses, a lion, a giraffe, a deer and two-dragon-pulled chariots created by the renowned carver Charles Carmel in 1912. Carmel was trained near the Prospect Park horse stables, which enabled him to create masterfully lifelike creatures. The Carousel is one of only 12 of his works still in existence. In 1983, mechanical problems and deterioration forced the Carousel to close.

Four years later, the Prospect Park Alliance raised $800,000 to restore this Brooklyn treasure as its first capital restoration project. The mechanical components were repaired, twenty layers of paint were removed, and conservator Will Morton VIII skillfully recreated the historic design. Morton also added 60 renderings of Brooklyn and Prospect Park referenced from historic photos. The newly restored Carousel was opened to the public in October 1990. It is maintained to this day by the Prospect Park Alliance.

Making a Green Park Greener

March 3, 2014

You probably know that the LeFrak Center at Lakeside is a great place to skate, relax and enjoy the scenery; but it’s also environmentally sensitive. The Alliance, working with Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, took careful consideration when designing the project, which was built in accordance with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

Sustainability can be found in the project from its design through its construction. More than 84 percent of the construction waste was recycled, preventing more than 420 tons of waste from entering landfills. The LeFrak Center itself incorporates partially recycled and locally sourced materials, as well as paints, sealants, carpets and wood containing zero or very low levels of toxic chemicals. The LeFrak Center’s two green roofs create a natural insulation for the Center, which reduces the amount of energy required to heat and cool the building. To encourage non-automobile transportation, the Center also features a generous amount of bike racks, and will feature bike rentals this spring.

Wastewater is one of the biggest environmental impacts in the operation of a public facility. The LeFrak Center is outfitted with low-flow fixtures that will save over 205,000 gallons of water each year. A cistern recycles rainwater from the Center’s east building green roof, reusing it to water the plants and grass at Lakeside, which reduces runoff in the already overburdened city sewer system. The project also has added three acres of new green space to the Park, while the creation of the White Levy Esplanade and Baier Music Island has introduced new habitats for aquatic species.

c. Paul Martinka

PPA Profiles: Alex Boure

January 31, 2014

If you haven’t seen the Alliance’s Lakeside Maintenance Supervisor Alex Boure making his daily rounds in the Park, you’ve certainly seen his handiwork. Originally from Nigeria, Alex has worked with the Alliance for over four years. He now leads a crew of seven maintenance workers who keep Prospect Park looking its best, and take great pride in protecting the Park’s scenic beauty. His crew cleans litter and reports damage at Lakeside and throughout the east side of the Park. If this sounds like a monumental task, it is. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the Park for relaxation and recreation. All this activity takes a toll on the Park. So, how does such a small team maintain so much public land?

The secret, Alex said, is to talk to people, and to smile and care. Sometimes a nice conversation can be the difference between properly discarded trash and a lawn full of litter. A five minute chat can save hours, he explained, and handing out free garbage bags doesn’t hurt. Over the years, Alex has formed friendships with a number of regulars. By engaging visitors, Alex instills them with a sense of ownership for the Park and a respect for its natural areas. His positive nature is contagious.

Recently, Alex’s crew added the LeFrak Center at Lakeside to their domain. The new skating rink is already a booming success. People from all over New York, and around the world, have come to glide across the ice, sip hot chocolate, and admire the view from the adjacent White Levy Esplanade. Far from viewing the crowds as a challenge to the Park’s upkeep, Alex is thrilled by the area’s popularity. The goal of a park, in his view, is to keep the people coming back. A litter-free park is just as much an attraction as the rolling hills, sweeping views, babbling streams, and unforgettable skating. We have Alex and his crew to thank for that.