Prospect Park Vale's $40M Restoration About To Take Root

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — A $40 million restoration of Brooklyn's Backyard is about to take a walk through the park of city bureaucracy.

Long-simmering plans to erect a new building, among other changes, in Prospect Park's Vale will get a public hearing Tuesday before the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.

A Prospect Park Alliance spokesperson confirmed to Patch that the presentation — scheduled for roughly 12 p.m. — will cover the Vale project that was first unveiled by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2021 near the end of his tenure.

De Blasio at the time called the $40 million restoration "about as personal as it gets" — an allusion to how as a Park Sloper he had his wedding at the park and, controversially, later would often visit it during the pandemic.

"This park really sustained a lot of us, I was one of them," he said.

The hearing is part of a public design review before construction begins as soon as 2024, according to the Prospect Park Alliance.

The Vale is a 26-acre portion of Prospect Park in its northeast corner. Park officials plan to focus on an 8-acre section of the Vale, according to the plan.

The restoration will focus on two landscape features: the historic Children's pool and the former Rose Garden.

"The restoration of the Children’s Pool will bring back historic details while improving the environment through new plantings, bird-friendly features and a stormwater capture system," according to a Prospect Park Alliance outreach report.

"The former Rose Garden, which features three disused concrete basins, will be transformed into three distinct landscapes that respect the park’s historic design while adding greenery and new amenities, including: a pollinator garden and rustic arbor; a children’s nature play area; and a lawn with natural seating elements and small building with composting restrooms and a sheltered area for community use."

After community engagement, park officials decided to add 3 acres of woodland restoration, fencing to the children's nature play area and keeping the footprint of a new building as small as possible, according to Alliance documents.

"This is in response to concerns about the building size, but also to feedback about the need to maximize the use of the park’s existing facilities, and the fact that the nearby Central Library now offers a Civic Commons with meeting space," Alliance documents state.

For more information about the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing, click here.

Find more information about the Vale restoration project here.

Patch writer Kathleen Culliton contributed to this report.