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| The carousel is scheduled to be complete in 2012 |
With the new South Ferry Subway Terminal open since March 2009, final rebuilding work is slated for Battery Park and the plaza outside Whitehall Ferry Terminal.
The work will bring several new enhancements to the park, including installation of the aquatic-themed carousel “SeaGlass” -- a 46-foot-wide spiraled turntable designed to simulate the ocean floor, complete with sea animals for children to ride. The innovative carousel is funded by the Battery Conservancy with help from the city Parks and Recreation Department and a Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) grant, and construction/installation begins in September 2010.
The conservancy also is working the state Department of Transportation and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to complete the $16 million downtown bikeway link through the park. The bike path was on hold during the MTA’s South Ferry tunnel construction, but the conservancy now plans to expedite construction of the cyclists’ link between the Hudson and East River bikeways. The path will cut through the northern end of Battery Park, bringing new landscaping, paving, and relocation of monuments. A $2.5 million federal transportation grant made in early 2009 completed the final project funding. Bikeway construction is expected to begin in late 2010 and continue for about one year.
Meanwhile, just east of Battery Park, the MTA is collaborating with the city Department of Transportation to rebuild Peter Minuit Plaza. The plaza, located above the new South Ferry subway terminal outside Whitehall Ferry Terminal, will be home to a new landscaped pedestrian area surrounded by a bus loop. The plaza also will be home to Dutch architect Ben van Berkel’s windmill-inspired art installation “New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion,” which was given to the city in 2009 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Dutch's settling of Manhattan. The plaza reconstruction will be complete in late summer 2010.
All of the posted information, including schedules and completion dates are based on the information provided by the project managers. Locate this project on the Interactive Streetwork Map.
Read more about the Battery Conservancy and its projects here.
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