Staten Island’s Freshkills Park gets a $23M boost for next phase

Freshkills Park, once the world’s largest landfill and soon to be one of the city’s largest parks, has scored a financial boost that will advance construction on one of its five new sections. The city has awarded construction firm Looma Construction Corp. a $22.9 million contract that will allow them to start building North Park, reports DNAinfo.

Phase one of building North Park will largely keep the 20-acre section it in its natural state, but will add various pathways, a composting station, a picnic lawn, and seven acres of seed plots. It’s the first portion of new parkland that’s located within the former landfill’s boundaries to proceed.

Once complete, the transformed park’s other sections will be the Confluence, South Park, East Park, and West Park, with each designed distinctly from one another to display their own set of unique characteristics.

In 2012, the first section, Schmul Park, opened on the northern edge of the overall parkland, featuring new basketball and handball courts, and a new walkway. The second section, Owl Hollow Soccer Fields, debuted in 2013. The full transformation won’t be complete until 2020.

• Freshkills Park Moves Closer to Reality as City Awards $22.9M Contract [DNAinfo]
• Freshkills Park: the history of the former landfill-turned-green space [Curbed]