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Kids Garden to Grow in Washington Market Park
The plans, drawn up by a Parks landscape architect, show the garden near the northwest corner of thepark, adjacent to the park shed and ramp leading to Borough of Manhattan Community College. That location was yet to be finalized last month. But the landscape architect who designed the plan, Gail Wittwer, called it “the ideal site” when she showed the scheme this summer to the Friends of Washington Market Park board. The area is one of the most open and least used sections of the park. A $15,000 grant from Friends of Lower Manhattan is paying for the garden, but it will likely cover only a fence, 15 3-foot-by-3-foot beds, and a water line, according to Friends of Washington Market Park board member Pam Frederick. The group will have to raise additional money to pay for other features of the design. Nelle Fortenberry, president of the Friends of Washington Market Park board, said she hopes this first phase of the park will be completed by next spring. She said she anticipates that some of the garden plots will be assigned on a first-come basis, while most will be planted and maintained by a park staff gardener. There will also be the opportunity for local school groups to use some plots for lessons in horticulture. It will be a place, she said, where children can learn to plant and cultivate a variety of plants, with oversight by the park staff. “You can’t just bring over a tomato plant and throw it into the ground, or plant willy-nilly,” she said. Much of the unplanted area, including the paths between the plots, would be covered with brownstone chips, according to the preliminary plan. The preferred garden site is also one of three potential locations for a planned bathroom in the park. The Parks Department must first determine that the bathroom will go elsewhere before the garden can be sited in that space.
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