Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 5 Uplands Preps for Summer Opening (Photos)

Another piece of the complicated puzzle that is Brooklyn Bridge Park is showing signs of progress.

The Pier 5 Uplands are well under way, a recent visit to Brooklyn Bridge Park revealed. When complete the new park section will add 4.6 acres to the park. It will include a boathouse for park programming and a facility for park operations.

The green space appears to be complete, or close to it. A sound dampening berm designed to counter noise from the Brooklyn Queens Expressway is finished. The grass-covered slope curves from one end of the Uplands to the other, embracing the park operations building in its middle and ending at the boathouse.

The two buildings, still under construction, have topped out. Windows and cladding are going up. When complete, the boathouse will offer public restrooms as well as events, lectures and classes.

In contrast to the nearby athletic fields, picnic areas and playgrounds, the Uplands, with its meandering walkways and scattered seating areas, will be a more restful green space.

The project, like the rest of the park, was designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The area is scheduled to open this summer.

The Pier 5 Uplands is not the only green space currently under construction in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Construction started on another park space on Pier 3 in October.

That project will add five acres to the park and include a flexible area for recreation and events, a central lawn, a labyrinth for kids and adults featuring historic items salvaged from the park and, of course, expansive views of New York Harbor, Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s expected to open in 2018.

[Photos by Susan De Vries]

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