The New York Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC), NYC Parks, and Prospect Park Alliance have broken ground on the $37.5 million restoration of the Vale, an 8-acre project in the northeast corner of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Funded by the Mayor’s Office, the work is the largest capital allocation in Prospect Park Alliance’s history, with the Alliance’s in-house architects and landscape architects leading the design for a renewed public space centered on nature, quiet reflection, and intergenerational play.
Rendering of Prospect Park Vale Pollinator Meadow, courtesy of NYC.
Rendering of Prospect Park Vale Pollinator Meadow, courtesy of NYC.
The restoration marks the first major overhaul of the Vale in more than 50 years and focuses on two principal areas: the historic Children’s Pool and the former Rose Garden, along with three additional acres of woodland restoration. Plans call for the Children’s Pool to be rehabilitated with restored shoreline conditions, historic architectural features, new native plantings, bird-friendly habitat elements, and ADA-accessible pathways. The broader project is also intended to extend a pollinator corridor through this section of the park.
Rendering of Prospect Park Vale Northeast Pavilion, courtesy of NYC.
Rendering of Prospect Park Vale Northeast Pavilion, courtesy of NYC.
Rendering of Prospect Park Vale Northeast Pavilion, courtesy of NYC.
In the Upper Vale, the former Rose Garden will be reworked into three connected landscapes: a pollinator meadow with planted arbor, a children’s nature exploration area, and a picnic lawn with a small pavilion. The pavilion will include eight all-gender composting restroom stalls, two of them ADA accessible, along with a sheltered viewing terrace, green roof, and bird-friendly fritted windows. Other project features include accessible seating, a drinking fountain, restored woodland edges, and new play elements such as logs, boulders, sand play, and a hand pump. Officials said the construction team is 35 percent minority- and women-owned business enterprises.
Rendering of Prospect Park Vale Northeast Pavilion, courtesy of NYC.
Rendering of Prospect Park Vale Children’s Pool, courtesy of NYC.
The project builds on a series of recent capital improvements in this area of Prospect Park, including the Flatbush Avenue perimeter restoration, two new park entrances, woodland restoration following Hurricane Sandy, upgraded pathways and lighting, and the restorations of Endale Arch and the Grand Army Plaza berms and Memorial Arch.
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The overgrown and secluded Vale of Cashmere was formerly a popular venue for anomynsous sex.
This renewal is long overdue. I went there once several decades ago. Horribly overgrown and the pool was dry and full of weeds. Lots of men standing around and offering themselves, or selling drugs. Got out of there as fast as I could.
Prospect Park is considered Olmsted and Vaux’s masterpiece.
This restoration is long overdue, but $37.5 million?! Compost toilets don’t cost that much.
The pollinator meadow is very welcomed but it’s not big enough, and the City as a whole needs to make areas for pollinators more of an urgent priority. Flower seeding partial lawn sections in multiple parks shouldn’t cost millions, but then, it’s NYC.
bring back the fountains