Woodside's Doughboy Park Gets New Plaza, Seating Area

WOODSIDE, QUEENS — NYC officials recently celebrated the newly reconstructed $1.8 million plaza and seating area in Woodside’s Doughboy Plaza with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The project also provided new stair access to the upper dog run area at Doughboy Park, NYC Parks said in a news release Thursday.

“Woodside’s Doughboy Park now has a brand new bluestone plaza, making it a worthy space to recognize and honor all of the soldiers who gave their lives in service to their country,” said Queens Borough Parks Commissioner Michael Dockett. “We are thrilled that this project was completed in time for the community to enjoy it over the fall season, and we’re grateful to Council Member Van Bramer for his support on this transformative project.”

Today we cut the ribbon, my last as a Councilmember, on the newly renovated and now finished Doughboy Plaza at Doughboy Park! This $2 million investment is the fulfillment of a promise I made to the late Ed Bergendahl who asked me to renovate this sacred space in #Woodside! pic.twitter.com/PP8Fnyu7f7
— Jimmy Van Bramer (@JimmyVanBramer) December 16, 2021

Work involved the reconstruction of the existing memorial wall, which included re-setting the 9-11 Memorial Plaque, and the installation of new granite veneer facing and bluestone coping. The plaza was re-paved with new bluestone pavement and includes new benches to provide ample seating.

SEE ALSO:

• Renovation Work Begins At Doughboy Plaza In Queens

The flagpole was reconstructed and the WWI memorial stone tablets were relocated within a planting bed around the Doughboy statue. The landscape beds were planted with new trees, shrubs and groundcovers.

Construction began in Sept. 2020 and was completed in Sept. 2021. The project was funded by Council Member Van Bramer.

According to NYC Parks, Doughboy Park was assigned to NYC Parks in 1957, and the new park opened the following year. Originally a children’s play area for students from nearby P.S. 11, the site was transformed into a sitting area for adults, in keeping with the dignity of the park’s doughboy monument.

The Returning Soldier, and later dubbed The Woodside Doughboy, the poignant monument by Burt Johnson was erected by the Woodside Community Council in remembrance of the local men and women who served in World War I.

Although the park was named in 1971, the bronze and granite monument has stood on the site since 1923. Before the statue was erected, local soldiers gathered here at the “mustering ground” before departing to fight in World War I. The Woodside Doughboy is one of eight such statues erected in New York City’s parks.