Court Square Park (Rendering: Parks Dept.)
July 2, 2020 By Christian Murray
Court Square Park will be undergoing a $4 million upgrade and the Parks Department has released preliminary design plans.
The project will feature a new central lawn that will take the place of the fountain. The redesign also includes new seating, games tables and additional plantings.
The loss of the fountain has received a mixed reception, according to Frank Wu, president of the Court Square Civic Association. He said many people believe it adds character and has history.
The park, which is about half an acre in size, is located directly in front of the courthouse, an ornate building at 25-10 Court Square. The park’s best known feature has been the fountain.
Design Plan (Parks Dept.)
However, Wu said that many residents—particularly those with families—believe the lawn provides more room for children to play and provides more space for programming and pop-up markets.
Lisa Deller, chair of Community Board 2, said that Parks Dept. told her that the fountain had to be removed since it is in poor condition and would be expensive to repair and maintain.
Deller said that residents—such as Wu– have been pushing for other water features, such as an interactive spray area, given the loss of the fountain. The spray area could be used by children and it also has a cooling component.
The Parks Dept. confirmed this week that it would be including an interactive spray area in the park, something that was not in the initial plans presented to residents.
Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2021 and take about a year to complete. The project is being funded by the mayor’s office.
Court Square Park in its current condition ( Parks Dept.)
Court Square Park (Rendering: Parks Dept.)
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14 Comments
They’re falsifying what it will look like.
He falsified his research, so that RDU-90 could be approved and Devlin McGregor could give you… Provasic!
The scale seems to be off, right?. why are we getting rid of the historic fountain?
This park will look nice down the street from the statue of the Pepto-Bismal nude dude, playing with his coin purse.
People currently running from LIC because of Covid, but the park people use on smoke break from jury duty needs an overhaul? Pump the brakes.
this is so inaccurate it hurts, the park is about half the size, these renders make no sense, whomever measured and made these is off by 50%
Why on earth would they get rid of that wonderful fountain to replace it with a lawn that will perpetually be covered in dog droppings? Well, I guess these days we’re tearing down anything old and interesting.
It IS ABSOLUTELY REDICULIOUS TO ELIMINATE THE FOUNTAIN.THIS LOCATION IS WHERE THE LAST PERSON IN QUEENS WAS EXECUTED AND THE BANK ROBBER WILLY SUTTON WAS TRIED.THIS SPACE WAS WAS INTENDED TO ADD TO THE GRANDEUR OF THE COURT HOUSE
Waste of $
Removing the fountain is literally the worst idea ever. You don’t “upgrade” a park by removing its most iconic feature. Find a way to keep the fountain. The proposed “central lawn” doesn’t help – if I want to stretch out I’m going to find a bigger park anyway.
Keep the fountain in the middle of the planned green circle and just reduce the size of the pool surrounding the fountain. Character. History. Everyone wins.
FIX the existing fountain!! It adds so much class and character to the space.
Not sure why the fountain can’t be retained with a smaller pool, surrounded by grass.
This is nice, though they should also close Thomson Street adjacent to the Park and expand the park in to that space.
I’m entirely in agreement with this. Making Thompson Street pedestrian and an extension of the Park is an fabulous idea.
It’s Thomson Avenue and it connects you yuppies to Queens Blvd and the LIE so that trucks and vans can bring you your soy latte ingredients and vegan organic muffins.
No, Demetrios, that would be 44th Drive. Thomson Avenue west of 44th Drive is not really needed. No need to get huffy with the people moving here and improving the area.
Similarly, Court Square East could be converted to have limited traffic and no parking to further expand the square.