Landscape architect Signe Nielsen (standing) discusses ideas with local residents and business owners at the design workshop for a new Bogardus Garden and Plaza. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
Morning tai chi at Bogardus Plaza and Garden anyone? Does a cobblestone paved pedestrian space with a climbing rock, or garden steps for sitting and sipping your morning coffee sound appealing? Or sketching and gardening classes, perhaps?
Those were some of the ideas offered by about a dozen residents and business owners who came together with a slew of city design officials and landscape architects at the Downtown Community Center late last month. Their job: begin reimagining Bogardus Garden and Plaza, the triangle on Hudson Street between Chambers and Reade streets.
“This is truly a public-private partnership,” Victoria Weil, president of Friends of Bogardus Garden, said as the participants gathered in small groups around tables covered with large blank maps of the area, and markers for putting down on paper their hopes and concerns. Soon those maps were scribbled with ideas for fences, tree boxes, garbage cans, recycling bins and much more.
Last year, the city Department of Transportation chose Friends of Bogardus Garden for a $2 million grant to turn what is now a fenced-in garden and pedestrian plaza into one 9,000-square-foot public space. This would be the first of several opportunities for the public to weigh in on the project’s design.
Of course, you can’t reconfigure a public space any way you want and Signe Nielsen of Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, the firm in charge of the design, laid out the key constraints, from fire hydrant access to manholes and underground utilities.
Questions and sometimes debates arose over seating, lighting, park amenities, and the degree to which the garden is open or closed.
“As a business, we would like to see [the plaza] more closed off, especially at night,” said Sava Vasiljevic, general manager of the Cosmopolitan Hotel, located across the street on West Broadway.
There were differences over whether the plaza should have historic elements or contemporary ones. But there seemed to be agreement on incorporating cast iron, a nod to James Bogardus, the father of cast iron architecture. (The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission and Public Design Commission have final approval over the plaza’s look.)
Not surprisingly, quality of life and security concerns were big topics.
“The reason I’m here,” said Nicole Vianna, whose apartment overlooks the plaza, “is that we have a lot of nightlife on this corner. How do we make it less inviting and not have late-night revelers bringing the party over?”
Plans for Cafeteria, a restaurant and bar that may open across the street, add to some residents’ anxiety. “We are concerned about people leaving Cafeteria and hanging out in the park drinking, smoking and partying,” said Lisa Schiller, who lives nearby on Reade Street.
Residents wanted lighting that would illuminate the space but not their apartments, and seating that did not invite sleeping. One idea was using steps or other structural perches as seating areas.
Nine-year-old Theo Tirschwell, whose mother, Annie Tirschwell, is on the board of Friends of Bogardus Garden, suggested a rock-climbing installation or treehouse for kids. As for seating? Not much of an issue. “When I come out of the subway, I look at the plaza and I run around because I have a lot of energy,” he said. “I really don’t sit down.”
With ideas and sketches in hand, Mathews Nielsen will consult with officials from the city Department of Design and Construction and return as early as next month with two or three alternative designs for another round of public discussion. A selected revised design is expected to be submitted to Community Board 1 followed by a cycle of reviews with city agencies. The goal is to start construction in the summer of 2016 and complete the project a year later.