In 2008, festival grounds were planned for the site of the impending MLS stadium in Flushing Meadows Park

Image source: Major League Soccer

Capital New York has a very interesting article about an earlier plan for Flushing Meadows Corona Park. It is called the “Flushing Meadows Corona Park Strategic Framework Plan” and was commissioned by the city in 2008. The designers of the plan had originally recommended creating “festival grounds” for the Pool of Industry site, where the Major League Soccer stadium is to be built.

A lot of improvements all over the park were planned, designed “to transform Flushing Meadows Corona Park from a fragmented, confusing, flat, uninspired, pavement-ridden open space into a grade-A greensward.” Some of the plans sound pretty interesting. Here are a few examples that might have been implemented.

• Demolish the Pool of Industry and create “festival grounds” as a gathering space.
• Unearth the Flushing River and reroute it along the park’s east side so as “to create a continuous ribbon of water” connecting Meadow and Willow Lakes (which would both be restored).
• Preserve the other historical remnants of the World’s Fairs, in particular the Unisphere and the New York State Pavilion, and “drastically improve access to, and circulation within, Flushing Meadows.”

The lead authors behind the strategic framework plan were Laurie Hawkinson, a principal at Smith-Miller+Hawkinson Architects; and Nicholas Quennell, a partner at landscape architecture firm Quennell Rothschild and Partners. Both were asked about the MLS stadium’s viability in the park. “I don’t think it’s necessarily a terrible idea,” says Hawkinson; the idea of a stadium in the park “was actually intelligent,” says Quennell.

When asked about whatever happened to the strategic framework he helped created, Quennell’s response was, “Don’t ask me.”

The Parks Department did go ahead and implement some of the recommendations in the strategic framework:

“According to the department, the city has commissioned a structural study of the World’s Fair monuments and prepared scoping documents outlining how much it would cost to stabilize and restore them. Also, the city has, among other things, reconstructed paths along Meadow Lake to improve drainage, planted more than 12,000 trees near Willow Lake as part of its Million Trees program, and created new signage in the park to make it easier to navigate.”

As far as we can tell, the MLS stadium is going forward, and Major League Soccer is extremely keen on building the stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and are working hard to make it a reality. For instance, according to Crain’s New York, “Records show that between March and June, it spent more than $612,000 on a slew of prominent New York City lobbying firms to handle various elements of the effort.” The effort being the work to bring the soccer stadium to Queens.

Part of their overall plan to make it a reality, is to give back to the community by upgrading the community soccer fields, which are in bad shape. MLS spokesperson Risa Heller said, “We are deeply committed to being a partner to Flushing Meadows Corona and supporting its long-term viability and vibrancy. We have committed millions of dollars to upgrade and renovate the community soccer fields before we build our stadium, and are talking with the community about other improvements they would like to see. We plan to continue this conversation and being a big part of the community, just as we do in every other community where we have teams.”

Flushing Meadows park planners find a soccer stadium idea not “necessarily” terrible [Capital New York]
The landscape of the Major League Soccer stadium saga in Flushing Meadows Corona Park [QNYC]
‘Major League’ lobbying effort for soccer stadium [Crain’s New York]