Sara D. Roosevelt Park Trudges Toward Major Renovation Between Delancey & Grand St.

The project will cost about $35 million, with the State DOT and City contributing about $15 million each. Construction starts in 2016 if everything goes to plan.

A tense Community Board 3 meeting back in April shed light on different community groups' visions for a new and improved SDR. The creatively named "SDR Park Reconstruction" project is the result.

The major renovation effort on the long dilapidated stretch of park was long past due and will address the park's most critical issues by its scheduled end year of 2027.

The planned changes mostly focus on enhancing what is already there. This means that the turf soccer field, the park building, the 'pit', and the bird garden will remain nearly unchanged, but with a couple fundamental aesthetic changes around them. The incredibly uneven brick path, most of it already inconsistently paved over, will be flattened. Existing trees will be maintained and new ones added across the park. There were talks of a major reimagination of what the two-block stretch of park could be, but they were rejected in favor an idea least likely to generate controversy among the groups most interested in the future of the park, including several Chinatown organizations, the park's conservatory organization, a 20 year old soccer league, and even a bike polo league.

The improvements are also meant to increase the park's overall usability and sense of place. The new design features a lower elevated sidewalk and more entrance points to encourage greater foot traffic and improve sightlines. The new benches, planters, tables, and ping pong tables in the middle of the two-block stretch is meant to create a new 'Broome Street Plaza' that encourages passers-by to occupy the space instead of just walking past it.

Other major additions include:

• Flood lights for the soccer field

• Rubber mini-track around the soccer field

• Staff parking to avoid double or sidewalk parking

• Eased access to Broome Street public bathroom

• Wider sidewalk at Delancey and Grand Street

The Parks Dept. page for the project is out of date so I would not trust its Project Completion Date of March 2025, as its doubtful that even the procurement process will have started (much less ended). The most likely outcome is a mid or late-2028 completion.