STATEN ISLAND — More than $10 million will be spent renovating two of the borough's parks, adding new sports fields, safety surfacing and ping-pong tables, the city announced.
The Parks Department said Tuesday it will spend $6.7 million to renovate De Matti Playground in Rosebank and $4.1 million on Arrochar Playground as part of its Community Parks Initiative.
"This truly has been the ‘Summer of Parks’ on Staten Island," Borough President James Oddo said in a statement.
"These capital projects will revitalize two heavily used parks on the North Shore which are great assets to our community."
As part of the renovations, De Matti Playground, on Tompkins Avenue, will get a new Americans with Disabilities Act compliant ramp and entrance point, tile safety surfacing, upgraded swings, two chess tables and two ping-pong tables, the Parks Department said.
The city will also add several in-ground jets to the spray shower area, which only has one mushroom bollard currently, as part of the renovations that will be funded by the mayor's office and the state Dormitory Authority, Parks said.
At Arrochar Playground, adjacent to P.S. 39 on Sand Lane, the city will add new basketball courts, a multi-purpose synthetic turf field, game tables, a spray shower and shaded seating areas.
The funding for those renovations was provided by the mayor's office, Oddo and Councilman Steven Matteo.
During the summer the city made several announcements of funding to parks around the borough, including a $4.825 million injection of cash to kickstart the Fairview Park plans back to life and a $9.3 million revamp of the sports fields at Gen. Douglas MacArthur Park — known as "Berry Fields" or "The Berries."
