Politics & Government

One Day, Park Entrance May Get a Makeover

The traffic barrier at Prospect Park's Third Street entry way may someday get an upgrade

The Third Street entrance to Prospect Park just might get a makeover – someday that is.

Though there are no immediate plans to renovate the entrance, the Prospect Park Alliance said it is willing to talk shop with the Park Slope Civic Council.

The PSCC recently held a design competition to renovate the entry way, in hopes of replacing the less-than-beautiful metal traffic barrier and glaring red "Do Not Enter" sign that block the park to traffic. Last week, the civic council chose a plan by Bay Ridge architects Jordan Yamada and Peter Zaharatos as the winning design.

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"While there is no immediate capital budget for undertaking work on the Park's Third Street entrance, the winning designs point the way toward some exciting future possibilities," said Tupper Thomas, President of the Prospect Park Alliance.

 "We'll study them closely and keep in touch with the Civic Council about any future plans for the Third Street entrance."

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The winning design, "Stone Garden" is reminiscent of a Japanese rock garden, featuring 12 movable granite blocks set into brass grooves on roller bearings. The design welcomes bypassers to interact with the landscape, by rearranging the stone barriers.

"What we were looking to do with the design was create a very quiet space. The idea was that it was a space that slows you down as you enter the park," said Zaharatos, who in the past has been a senior designer on projects such as the NYPD Police Academy in College Point, Queens. The designers, who entered the contest in September, snagged $2,000 for their accomplishment.

"The creativity and thought people put into their design proposals is really fabulous," said Thomas.

According to , a civic council trustee, if the design ever does become a reality there will need to be two modifications.

First, the entire design would effectively be slid further back into the park, rather than protrude into the bike lane as it does in the proposed design. Second, it is likely that the design would only feature one or two rocks that actually move, rather than 12, in order to simplify the project.

The idea for the competition, according to Youner, sprang from longstanding complaints surrounding the aesthetic of the gateway's current traffic barrier.

"This one sort of overall answered most of the issues that we wanted to deal with and it worked within the park context," said Youner. 

While the park may not have funding to pursue the design now, the PSCC may pursue fundraising to build a prototype, or perhaps a scaled down, temporary version of the project somewhat like an art installation.


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