Sunday, August 17, 2014

Queens Botanical Garden to be renovated

From the Queens Courier:

It’s been a long road to get the Queens Botanical Garden pathways repaved, but the revitalization is finally underway.

The garden is undergoing a $4 million infrastructure transformation that will add an irrigation system and redo walkways on the 39-acre campus, which have not seen a full repaving in half a century.

“It’s been 50 years,” said Susan Lacerte, execute director of the garden. “These pathways have done a really good job and the city is making an investment.”

The project, which is broken into three phases, will install brand new pathways throughout the garden. In previous years, the walkways, which are loaded with cracks and sinking areas, have only been patched up when certain spots needed serious attention and only a few were paved when the parking area was being constructed.

After construction, the garden will also have a sprinkler system. Currently, workers have to carry hoses across the garden to water plants and grass.

The first phase, which will be completed soon, already has most of the pathways around the water fountain complete.

In the second phase, the College Point Boulevard entrance will be repaved, and a stepped ramp will be added on the bridge that connects the garden to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, creating easier access to the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway. The third phase will complete the pathways around the meadow and in the middle of the garden.

The bulk of the funding was provided by the borough president’s office, the city council and the mayor’s office.

11 comments:

Mike Francesa said...

Will this go the way of Willow Lake too?

Anonymous said...

They should put in a bike path through the garden for cyclists getting to and from FMCP.

Cersei Lannister said...

It would be nice if they put a bike path through the QBC.

Anonymous said...

A few yeas ago, they spent $6 million on a new gate to surround the park, and a new administration building. The gate shut off the bike path from FMCP.

Anonymous said...

The QBG is a mess! was thee recently. The grounds are unkempt and the garden displays are overrun with weeds. Where does all of the funding and donations go to keep this running. I was not impressed in the least! And the neighborhood surrounding it is a dump !

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Said:
They should put in a bike path through the garden for cyclists getting to and from FMCP.
The Garden is for pedestrians to appreciate, not a "Right of way for freaking bike nazis...

Anonymous said...

Th neighborhood between Booth Memorial and Peck Av used to be a nice, solid, middle class hood. I imagine it has been Asianized by now with lots of Queens Crap, etc. Main Street on the Hill sure has.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad they shut off the bike path and haven't replaced it. Like the poster above said, the Botanical Garden is supposed to be for quiet strolls - not yet another speedway for bikers to "cut through".

ron s said...

I was there recently as well--I would wait a few months to see what happens-it clearly was a mess, but to be fair, a lot of work was going on and areas were fenced off, etc. It may or may not be a decent garden eventually. Having said that, it has always been the poor neglected cousin of the gardens in the Bronx and Brooklyn, even at its best.

Anonymous said...

The QBG fence used to have medallions on it. After repeated thefts, the remaining medallions were removed.

Bryan said...

I've seen more flowers in a cemetery.