PROSPECT HEIGHTS — New basketball courts, a walking track, turf field and water playground for kids are coming to Prospect Heights as part of a redesign of Stroud Playground.
The small playground on Park Place between Washington and Classon avenues is one of six public spaces in Brooklyn set to be renovated as part of the city’s Community Parks Initiative, a $130-million effort to improve 35 parks around the city.
The Parks Department and the Prospect Park Alliance teamed up on the proposed design for the playground’s renovation, which was presented to and approved by Community Board 8 last week.
The design calls for an asphalt walking track to be built around an all-new artificial turf field and two new basketball courts on the east side of the green space.
The new playground will also include two play areas — one for toddlers and another for grade school-aged kids — with fountains, water “bubblers” and a handball court. Adult fitness equipment and game tables are also slated for the park.
The renovated playground will also include an "outdoor classroom," with a a rain garden that students from the adjacent Elijah Stroud campus, which houses M.S. 353 and P.S. 316, can use. The play space will also be decorated with new trees and flowers, the plan shows.
The design was created with input from area residents, the Alliance said, which was collected in a public hearing about the renovation held this spring at Elijah Stroud.
The final design will need to be approved by the Public Design Commission before construction can begin. The Parks Department estimates that will happen by the end of this year.
The renovation of Stroud Playground will cost about $3.6 million, according to the Parks Department.
