Brooklyn Park To Undergo $40 Million Renovation

A park in south Brooklyn will undergo a $40 million restoration as part of Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC initiative to transform eight city parks into attractive regional destinations.

The mayor yesterday unveiled plans for Dreier-Offerman Park, the first of the eight to have a finalized design under the $1.2 billion initiative to improve the city's parks and open spaces. Designs for the remaining seven parks will be completed in 2008.

In a statement yesterday, the mayor said he was committed to ensuring every New Yorker lives within a 10-minute walk of a park or open space. "Completing these regional destination parks in all five boroughs will make them the jewels of our park system and increase usability and access for thousands of New Yorkers," he said.

Redesign plans for Dreier-Offerman Park include nine new athletic fields, nature and bike trails, an amphitheater, a playground, a recreation center, and a pavilion.

"Parks like Dreier-Offerman have shown extraordinary recreational potential for years. Thanks to PlaNYC, the new design for Dreier-Offerman will greatly enhance the opportunities for recreation and the quality of life for residents of south Brooklyn," the parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe, said.

The city will break ground on Dreier-Offerman Park in 2008 and complete all restorations and improvements by 2011.

Other parks slated for redevelopment include Highbridge in Manhattan and the Bronx, Soundview Park in the Bronx, Fort Washington Park in Manhattan, Highland Park Reservoir and Rockaway Beach in Queens, and Ocean Breeze Park in Staten Island.