Some progress in ballfield reconstruction by Nathan Weiser

The Parks Department came to the Red Hook Library to gave two important updates about the construction and remediation of the Red Hook Ball Field complex.

Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Marty Maher said that construction of phase one–ball fields 5-8–will now be starting at the end of this summer instead of in the spring of 2019.

“We encountered some challenges in our design and we informed you a few months ago that phase one of the project would start spring 2019,” Maher said. “Well, we are back again but with good news!”

This timeline change was the major reason for the meeting.

Maher thanked the elected officials in the district who have been pushing for this project and have tried to get it completed as soon as possible.

“Councilmember Menchaca, Congressmember Velazquez and Speaker Ortiz have been tireless in supporting this project and getting us to cut through the red tape,” Maher said. “Of course, Community Board 6 and Mike Racciopo, Red Hook West and East Tenants Association and Parks Department staff were also helpful.”

Eric Matus, chief of design for the whole project, reminded everyone that the completion of fields 5-8 will be by spring 2020.

Contractors moving in
“You will see a placement of temporary office trailers, a guard house construction fence, an entrance gate, installation of maintaining erosion control measures, a stabilized entrance and a catch basin insert,” Matus said. “Anything that is around the site that needs to be protected will be done in an efficient manner.”

There will be a stabilized construction entrance to the four fields that will be located at the corner of Bay Street and Hicks Street.

According to Matus, next to the construction entrance there will be a stockpile area for the contractor with two trailers set up. There will also be a construction fence around the area, which will have fabric over it to maintain dust control, so dust does not go throughout the neighborhood.

Other ways that NYC Parks will be handling dust will include a water truck soil plow and an important perimeter fencing curtain, which will also surround the site.

Before the trucks leave the site, it will be necessary that they be cleaned. NYC Parks has engineers that have been trained in what to look for in terms of cleanliness.

Tree removal
A striking visual change in the area will be the removal of many trees. There are two different reasons for this. One is that Parks has identified some trees as near the end of their life cycle.

The other category of trees that will be removed are the result of the design approach for this project. A factor that goes into this is when soils are removed, the can’t remove soil too close to some of the trees because that would play a factor in the decay of those trees.

A total of 52 trees will be removed during the first phase.

The good news is that 62 new trees will be planted as part of the eventual reconstruction of the park.

In addition, since there were community members that were concerned with trying to keep storm water on the site of fields 5-8, there will be a bioswale on the perimeter.

“That is going to include over 5,000 perennials and ornamental grasses and 300 daffodils,” Matus said. “We are greening up the site quite a bit.”

During the construction of phase one, the bus stop at Lorraine and Hicks street will be temporarily moved across Hicks Street. This is because they will have four segments of sidewalk that have to be reconstructed.

Matus answered a question about lighting and said that fields 5-8 will not have sports lighting in that location. The only area where there is funding to add recreational lighting will be for Soccer Field 3 and Track One. Also, Field Nine, that currently has lighting, will keep its lights.

The future
The second stage of remediation will involve baseball field 9 and soccer field one. The design was completed during June and NYC Parks anticipates construction to begin in fall of 2019 and be done by spring 2021.

Phase three includes baseball fields 1-4 and soccer field 3 (including the track inside of the soccer field).

Matus promised that this third phase should be done by the fall of 2021.

The third phase involves replacing the current baseball fields with synthetic turf, and installation of a brand new track, The bleachers will be redone to be ADA compliant.

They will also be adding adult fitness stations and a basketball court in both locations of this phase.

“We are removing some of the handball courts because the community was interested in basketball, Matus added of phase three. “We are getting a full-size basketball court. We still have two handball courts in that location.”

Councilman Menchaca addressed the issue of lighting. He thought more of the complex should have lights. He added that the Council has been putting a lot of capital funding to ensure that more of the fields are lit.

The councilman’s third topic was the issue that Jim Tampakis, a Red Hook businessman, brought up, about barging in materials via the water instead of having so many trucks coming in and out of the neighborhood. Menchaca said this issue should be considered since the water is a resource in Red Hook.

“We want a plan that is not just discussed here in a meeting,” Menchaca said. “We want to know why we are not using our waterways to take in and take stuff out.”

The Parks Department claims that barging is not feasible for this project.

Menchaca closed with the jobs issue that has been brought up before. He wanted Parks to understand that people who are trained to do some of the work relevant to this project should have the opportunity to join in these contracts.

Margaret Gregor, who has been the on-scene EPA coordinator since 2015, reminded everyone why the area is contaminated and must be fixed and why the EPA is involved.

In the 1920s, there was a lead facility at Hicks and Lorraine Street. They refined scrap metal into lead of a higher purity and would melt these metals down in big vats.

The process of melting the metals would give off smoke emissions that would be sent out of the building by smoke stacks.

“Once it is in the air, the lead drops out because it is heavy, and it lands in the soil and stays there for a very long time,” Gregor said. “Kids come into contact using the fields when they get dusty.”