Massive Kensington Playground Renovation Begins

KENSINGTON, BROOKLYN — A group of local leaders broke ground Tuesday on a $2.8 million overhaul of Di Gilio Playground, on McDonald Avenue and Avenue F.

City Councilman David Greenfield, whose office funded the project, joined NYC Parks Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Marty Maher and leaders from Community Board 14 for the ceremony.

"Folks who are familiar with this park, to be perfectly frank, when I was a kid, I wouldn’t even touch this park," Greenfield told Patch. "It didn’t make sense for me, who literally lived a few blocks away. Because I knew there wasn’t going to be any room for kids."

That's about to change.

The renovation calls for a total gutting of the park, which appeared to just about be complete, which Maher said the Parks Department "almost never" does.

"We like to do is find out what the real needs of the community are and what the desires are," he told Patch. "And in this case we had some unused areas, underused areas, we had a great demand for a a playground, adult fitness, really making it more park-like."

The finished product will include play areas for toddlers, kids 2 to 5 years old and kids 5 to 12 years old, along with an adult exercise area. The tall, looming fences will be replaced by lower, more welcoming ones, and greenery will line much of the park. A spray shower will be installed for hot summer months and "game table seating" for outdoor picnics.

The adult exercise area was cheered by a group of workers from nearby Focus Camera, who will have a space to work out outside during their lunch breaks.

"We are literally quadrupling the size of the playground," Greenfield told community members who attended the ground-breaking. He said the new park will be an "oasis."

Here's a layout of the plans for the park:

And here's a 3D panorama of what it will look like when complete (click here to see it full screen):

The park will be a far cry from what it once was.

"It had deteriorated over the years," Alvin M. Berk, the chair of Community Board 14, told Patch. "Half the space was devoted to a roller hockey rink and that was increasingly disused. There was still interest by the roller hockey community but that community was aging out. The Community Board supported Councilmember Greenfield that more of the park be devoted to family use, and we’re delighted to have done that."

Greenfield was especially proud to tout that of the 13 parks in or near his district, upgrades have finished or are underway on 11 of them, and renovations for the other two have been fully funded.

"It's the one thing that helps everybody," Greenfield told Patch. "Seniors like parks. Children like parks. Rich people like parks. Poor people like parks. Parks service everyone.

These renovations generally take about a year, a Parks official said, and construction is on target to finish around April or May of next year.

The playground is named after Joseph DiGilio, an NYPD inspector who served in the department for more than 30 years.

Images via NYC Parks Department