Council Member Robert Holden at a Juniper Valley Park groundbreaking on Dec. 12. (Photo: Laura Hanrahan)
Dec. 12, 2018 By Laura Hanrahan
NYC Parks and local officials held a groundbreaking ceremony today to signal the start of work on a reconstructed spray shower play area at Juniper Valley Park.
The $2 million project has been years in the making, beginning its design stages in 2016, and it set to be completed some time next year.
The revamp includes colored concrete flooring to replace the old rubber surfaces, new spray shower systems installed in two areas and for different age groups, lowered fences for better sightlines and additional benches and planted greenery.
The entire spray shower area, at the Juniper North Playground by the intersection of Juniper Boulevard South and 78th Street, will also be ADA accessible.
Juniper Valley Park spray shower reconstruction schematic (via NYC Parks)
“I’m excited about these spray showers,” said Queens Borough President Melinda Katz at the groundbreaking. “I’m excited that they’ll be handicap accessible. I’m also very interested in the design, which puts aside a portion for the child and family with smaller kids— I think that is crucial to a really good spray shower area and a really good park.”
Council Member Robert Holden, who has advocated for several upgrades at the park, voiced his support for the city’s project.
“We never had a great spray shower here,” Holden said. “It was always a problem with the drainage. I think it’s a great $2 million spent.”
The old spray area has already been demolished and the site is actively under construction since October. NYC Parks, in its website, anticipates that the project will be completed in October 2019.
Katz, who frequents the park herself, meanwhile, is optimistic that the project will be finished by June, just in time for park-goers to enjoy the water during the hot summer.
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