(Updated) Is This the Future of Gowanus' Ennis Park?

Update: A high-quality rendering of the proposed park, as well as the slide show presented at the CB6 meeting, has been added below. The below text has also been updated to reflect these additions.

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — Draft plans presented to Community Board 6's Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Committee on Wednesday show a totally renovated Ennis Playground in Gowanus.

At the end of the meeting, though, committee members decided that an additional public comment period was needed before they could vote on the city's proposal.

Proposed diagram of the new Ennis Playground, courtesy of NYC Parks (click to enlarge)

As the city's plans currently stand, the park would be tricked out with brand-new synthetic turf fields; an asphalt basketball court; play spaces for kids from 2 to 5 and 5 to 12 years old; bike racks; lighted pathways; new playground equipment, including a swing set; 30 new benches; two handicap entrances; and 240 feet of seating along low walls.

Space for a large, button-activated spray fountain is also included in the design. (During cooler months, the fountain area could also be used for other activities, landscape architect Stacia Tull said at the meeting.)

New trees and community planting areas have been built into available diagrams as well — plots that could either be turned over to locals or kept up by NYC Parks employees.

The complete draft proposal as presented at the CB6 meeting is embedded below:

City officials are stressing that all of the above remains preliminary, as the design has yet to be approved by either the Parks Department or the community board.

At the meeting, Tull said that Parks aims to finalize a design by the spring of 2017, so that construction can begin in the spring of 2018 and the park can re-open in the spring of 2019.

The $1.85 million it will take to complete the project will be drawn from the coffers of City Councilman Brad Lander, who represents Gowanus, and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

Most locals who showed up to Wednesday's meeting seemed supportive of the city's vision for Ennis Playground — although some hoped the park might also be fitted with freeze-proof water fountains, hand-washing stations and places to charge your cellphone.

In addition, several residents asked that the proposed location of the children's play space and the adult gathering area be flip-flopped, so that residents living along park's eastern edge wouldn't be kept up late at night by adult gatherings.

Parks committee co-chair Glenn Kelly said that residents can email comments or questions to him directly at gtk.nyc@gmail.com. Messages can also be sent to Brad Lander's office at lander@council.nyc.gov.

The committee chairs said Wednesday that any messages received will be passed along to — and hopefully addressed by — NYC Parks planners in the coming weeks. Community Board 6 will then revisit the issue in October.

Lead rendering of Ennis Playground courtesy of NYC Parks