EDC selects consulting team for Bush terminal open space. has selected a consultant team led by Donna Walcavage Landscape Architecture & Urban Design

Real Estate Weekly, May 23, 2001

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has selected a consultant team led by Donna Walcavage Landscape Architecture & Urban Design to prepare designs for transforming the Bush Terminal Piers in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, into a public recreational and open space amenity.

The impetus for the open space project came from the public outreach program that was part of the development of EDC's Strategic Plan for the Redevelopment of the Port of New York, completed in 1999. The goal of the Plan was to develop a financially feasible, multi-phased development strategy to guide the City's investments in maritime resources. As part of the Plan, EDC recognized the local community's need for public recreational open space, and identified the Piers as an appropriate location to meet that need.

The area for the project includes Bush Terminal Piers 1 through 5, from approximately 44th Street to the north, the Upper New York Bay to the west, 50th Street to the south, and Marginal Street to the west. Pier 5 is a dilapidated finger pier. Piers 1 through 4 were partially filled in the 1970s. Together, the piers form an approximately 23.7-acre project site.

The Donna Walcavage team will conduct surveys, investigation, analysis and create overall schematic design for the development of recreation and public open space facilities. The consultant will also examine revenue-generating economic and recreational components to sustain maintenance costs of the proposed open space. As part of the scope of work, the consultant team will develop a phasing plan for implementation and prepare contract documents for the first phase improvements.

The design will seek to create a safe linkage between the residential community and the waterfront park, as well as integrate the proposed recreational uses with the industrial and transportation uses in the area. EDC is working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to address the landfill site and develop an effective remediation strategy that will allow the project to move forward.

Completion of the schematic design is expected to take approximately seven months. Final design and contract document work will take another twelve months. EDC will work with the community and elected officials to secure funds so that when the project is completed, EDC can proceed with construction of the first phase waterfront improvements.

The planning and design project will be funded through a New York State Environmental Protection Fund grant provided by the New York State Department of State, in addition to funds provided by the Brooklyn Borough President's Office, City Council Member Angel Rodriguez and the City's capital budget.