May 8, 2017

DDC Cuts Ribbon in New Garden at Park Slope Library

Contact:
Dan Leibel
718-391-1251

Brooklyn, NY - The NYC Department of Design and Construction officially opened the Park Slope Library’s reading circle and storytelling garden on Saturday, along with officials from the Brooklyn Public Library and Council Member Brad Lander. The garden, designed in-house at the DDC, is a fresh addition to the landscape of the 111-year-old Carnegie Library.

The $383,000 project adds new seating options for community members to enjoy lush green outdoor space and offers an important resource for families with young children. It features an amphitheater for storytelling, a new senior sitting area made up of bluestone pavement and steel benches, cedar planting boxes for children’s gardening, pedestrian lighting for the entire garden, and the installations of a new drinking fountain and new sprinkler system.

“The garden is an important resource for the community, as it promotes healthy living and serves as an area for neighbors to gather in a place connected with learning and community,” said DDC Commissioner Feniosky Peña-Mora. “This project provides the library with 3,700-square-feet of new outdoor space complete with permanent seating and a story time circle for children, as well as planters that will serve a sustainable community sponsored edible gardening program. I’m excited to see how it will serve the neighborhood.”

DDC’s project team sitting in the newly opened garden at the Park Slope Library

“The opening of the reading circle and storytelling garden at Park Slope Library begins a new chapter at a branch that has been one of Brooklyn’s busiest and most beautiful for more than 100 years,” said Brooklyn Public Library President and CEO Linda E. Johnson. “We thank Council Member Lander, the Friends of Park Slope Library and the Department of Design and Construction for helping us create a space that is ideal for children to learn, play and explore the natural environment. We encourage patrons to enjoy the garden by attending an event, taking in a performance or simply relaxing outside with a good book.”

The project’s design was completed by the city’s Department of Design and Construction, which managed its construction. DDC also designed and constructed the branch’s interior renovation in 2012, including ADA and HVAC improvements, new reading spaces and a multipurpose room that can be reserved by patrons online.

The garden was funded through the participatory budgeting process and was selected to be built in the PBNYC vote process by voters in Council Member Lander’s district.

About the NYC Department of Design and Construction
The Department of Design and Construction is the City’s primary capital construction project manager. In supporting Mayor de Blasio’s lenses of growth, sustainability, resiliency, equity and healthy living, DDC provides communities with new or renovated public buildings such as such as firehouses, libraries, police precincts, new or upgraded roadways, sewers, water mains in all five boroughs. To manage this $15 billion portfolio, DDC partners with other City agencies, architects and consultants, whose experience bring efficient, innovative, and environmentally-conscious design and construction strategies to city projects. For more information, please visit nyc.gov/ddc.