Squibb Park Open for Skaters, PS 8 Kids
The long-shuttered Squibb Park at Columbia Heights and Middagh Street has re-opened after a renovation, and (kind of) has a skate park to show for it. The Brooklyn Paper says that a flat rubber surface has replaced the dirt floor (though a reader wrote in to say that it’s actually engineered acrylic) and some benches…
The long-shuttered Squibb Park at Columbia Heights and Middagh Street has re-opened after a renovation, and (kind of) has a skate park to show for it. The Brooklyn Paper says that a flat rubber surface has replaced the dirt floor (though a reader wrote in to say that it’s actually engineered acrylic) and some benches and a bathroom space have been added. Skaters shouldn’t expect any half pipes or rails here, though simple skate elements may be added to the park later. As Brooklyn Heights Blog noted a couple of weeks ago, the park is also being used as a recess space for PS 8 while its new building is constructed. The Brooklyn Paper also notes that park officials have confirmed that the bridge over Furman Street down to Brooklyn Bridge Park is a go. The city has allocated $4 million to the park for the bridge’s construction, which will fully fund the entire project.
This Park is a Forgotten Squibb No More [BK Paper]
Update on Squibb Park and Bridge [Brownstoner]
Squibb Renovation Begins, Foot Bridge in Limbo [Brownstoner]
Shredders Coming to Squibb? [Brownstoner]
Brownstoner, could you please make a correction? The surface is not rubber, it’s engineered acrylic. You can’t skateboard on rubber. Thanks!
This park always had a bathroom; the only renovations done on it were to replace the roof.
What they did was remove the two 1940s wading pools, eliminate a bunch of the benches, and in the extreme NW corner, eliminate the swings.
This park was open when I first moved to BH and although people always talk about it as a “trap” with only one entrance, the kid’s playgrounds at the SE corner of Columbia Heights and Middagh, and the Pierrepont Playground, at Col. Heights and Pierrepont, *also* have only one entrance each. But no one ever called *them* death traps.
When I lived in the Heights, no one ever went there, it felt like a death trap. Hopefully the bridge will make it feel safer.
Yes, the Cobble Hill group (Judy Frances et al.) wishes to block the new condo towers near Atlantic, but I have not heard any opposition to the hotel near Old Fulton, which will also presumably help fund maintenance of the park through the payments in lieu of tax mechanism.
All I’ve heard, Minard, is that “they” – presumably the BBP Coalition – are trying to fund the park in a way that excludes the proposed commercial development (condos and such, not vendors).
The new hotel will need some parking, no way for people to get there with luggage except private car or taxi but I think that construction on the hotel is not about to start any time soon. Has anyone heard anything new on that front?
I walked by the other night and noticed it was about done, and I think it’s great that they’ve funded the bridge to BBP.
Minard, I think the land where the warehouses were is slated for parking. Ugh. Such a nice spot it should be all park IMHO.
This is the first time I have heard that the new bridge is a “go”. That is good news as it will afford a short-cut to the center of the park from Columbia Heights.
My next question is what will happen to the large parcel where the old warehouses used to be? Will they turn that into a part of the park or will it be off-limits until the new hotel is built? -which could be a long way off.
Bathroom space? Kids doing it in the sandbox or what?