Like DeLury Square (at Gold Street) andTitanic Park (at South Street), Pearl Street Playground will be rebuilt in a larger plot, expanding into a new curb alignment that is part of thecity Department of Transportations Pedestrian Plaza Program. The new, expanded layout closes Little Pearl Street, forming a pedestrian-only corridor that links Beekman to Fulton Street -- benefitting the local community as well as visitors to the South Street Seaport Historic District with better foot-traffic circulation.
The design for the new Pearl Street park brings more shady seating and open space, while marking the historic significance of its location along the former eastern shoreline of Manhattan, as it stood before the 18th century. A planting bed in the pavement will allude to the original sandy bluff that existed at the site, marking its natural drainage pattern to the East River. A basic oval will form the center of the park, mimicking the scheme for Titanic Park across the street. An oyster-shaped spray shower and sand play area is a nod to the oyster middens (shell heaps) that were once found along Pearl Street.
The new Pearl Street Playground is one of several downtown public spaces and parks being rebuilt thanks to funding from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC). It opened in June 2012.
Pearl Street Playground a popular destination amidst a dense urban crossroad of the local elderly residents, children, their caregivers, and visiting tourists. The Parks Department designed the new park to provide shady seating, active recreation for pre-teens and young children, and safe pedestrian circulation. The careful protection of new and existing trees, light-colored surfaces, and additional planted areas will help reduce storm-water runoff and absorbed heat.
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