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City Begins $2.4 Million Renovation of Popular Jamaica Park

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | December 16, 2014 8:49am
 Captain Tilly Park in Jamaica Hills will undergo major renovations.
Captain Tilly Park in Jamaica Hills will undergo major renovations.
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DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

QUEENS — A heavily used 9-acre Jamaica park, struggling with crumbling sidewalks and rapid erosion, will undergo a significant renovation over the next two years, Parks Department officials announced.

Captain Tilly Park, in Jamaica Hills, near Jamaica High School, features a pond, a playground and a plaza with benches.

The $2.4 million renovation of the greenspace, which serves as a popular hangout spot among local residents, will take place in two phases.

The first stage of the City Council-funded project, which began last week, will take about a year to complete, according to the Parks Department.

The goal, officials said, is to improve the park’s drainage and remove invasive plants that will be replaced with new species that will help with erosion control, Parks officials said.

Decaying pathways around the park will also be repaved.

"The first phase of renovation will increase the biodiversity and ecological richness of Captain Tilly Park," said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski in a statement.

The second phase of renovations, scheduled to begin in the fall next year, will take about a year to complete.

It will include renovation of the plaza and landscape around the memorial dedicated to Captain George Tilly, a member of a prominent Jamaica family, who was killed while fighting in the Philippines in 1899.

The Tilly family once owned the land where the park is located, according to the Parks Department.

New fencing, benches and lighting will also be installed.