PARK SLOPE — Designs for Park Slope library’s storytelling garden were unveiled Thursday night but the expected star of the show — a bronze Knuffle Bunny statue — was nowhere in sight.
The outdoor reading garden slated for Sixth Avenue and Ninth Street will include an amphitheater, stroller parking, raised garden beds and a community seating area, library officials told Community Board 6's landmarks committee.
But the statue of the locally beloved children's book character created by author Mo Willems, included in the garden's original plans, was not featured in the presentation.
"The timeline for the installation of the statue has not been determined," a spokesman for Brooklyn Public Library said Friday morning.
"Brooklyn Public Library and the Friends of Park Slope Library plan to celebrate the work of children’s book author Mo Willems with a statue of Knuffle Bunny in the branch’s new storytelling garden, as approved by residents through the participatory budgeting process," spokesman Adam Leddy said in an email to DNAinfo.
Construction on the garden will continue "independently" and is expected to begin next year, he said.
The storytelling garden and Knuffle Bunny statue, estimated to cost $250,000, were proposed by Friends of the Park Slope Library during City Councilman Brad Lander's participatory budgeting program that lets locals decide on how to spend $1.5 million in public dollars for neighborhood improvements.
The project came in eighth place, squeezing itself into the winner's circle of seven other projects chosen for funding.
While Knuffle Bunny and the garden put the total amount over $1.5 million, a spokeman for Lander told DNAinfo in May that they would be "creative" in finding additional money for the projects.
The outdoor reading garden received unanimous support from CB6's landmarks committee and will be reviewed at the general board meeting next week. The plan will require approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
According to the designs, the green space will be fitted with canopies, planters for a community garden, paths with lighting and security cameras. Since the entire garden is primarily for children's programs, it was unlikely that the outdoor area would be used after library closing hours, officials said.
The amphiteater, which will have bluestone seating and a stage for kids' reading events, will be "nestled" into the grass and fits within the existing contours of the lawn, city landscape architect Lisa Guggenheimer said.
"I thank God that I've been on the land use committee long enough to see a storytelling amphitheater," said CB6 member Roy Sloane.
