Williams Bridge Oval Park – like more than 20 Bronx neighborhood parks and playgrounds – is getting new play equipment, comfort stations, seating areas, fencing and landscapes.

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The track and field in Williams Bridge Oval Park looks like it’s had a facelift. Joggers run and children frolic all over the field in this Bronx. Besides the recently finished track and field, Williams Bridge Oval Park, located in Mosholu, will receive reconstructed pavements, new fencing and curbing and paths as well as a handicapped entrance. The park will also receive a new skate park and a senior citizen recreation area.

In November of 2004, then Governor George E. Pataki and current Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that more than $220 million would go towards renovations of Bronx parks over the next five years, as reported at the nyc.gov website. After years of input from the community, the plans were finalized.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the improvements are based on five categories. They include improving neighborhood parks, renovating regional recreation facilities, developing the Bronx Greenway, improving and expanding access to the Bronx waterfront and building and “greening” the borough. The city plans to establish a comprehensive urban forestry program in which $10 million will be used to plant more trees.

More than 20 neighborhood parks and playgrounds will be given new play equipment, comfort stations, seating areas, fencing and landscapes.

Someone planning on enjoyring the new changes is Bainbridge resident of 12 years, Beatrice Gomez, a member of the Mosholu Woodlawn Community South Coalition, which lobbied for the renovations in conjunction with Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation and drew up plans that advocated for the capital improvements as an important start to rehabbing the entire Oval park.

A mother of three, Gomez, 31, takes her oldest son for soccer practice at the Oval field. Though happy with the new changes, she doesn’t approve of some of the chosen renovations. “I think the sprinkler areas should be improved. Kids get hurt easily because of the cement they fall on,” she said while watching her 4-year-old daughter make her way down a slide at the park. “That new skate park will only bring new injuries and is unnecessary right now.”

According to the Norwood News, the Norwood community’s biweekly newspaper that has covered changes at the many Bronx Parks, such as Oval, Mosholu and Van Courtland, the reconstruction is to be done in three different phases. The first consisted of the $3.1 million track and field, which was completely in early winter 2009. In fall 2009 phase two is to begin and $5.1 million will be used for renovations of the plaza area. Phase three started in fall 2008 and is schedule to take over a year to complete. Another $3.1 million are being used for the recreation building.

Jasmine Martinez, 27, a manager at the Oval Park recreation center, was involved with community board meetings organized to speak out about the damages at community parks. “I’m annoyed at how long it took the city to listen to us, the citizens,” said Martinez, who has been a Bronx resident for 20 years. “I’m happy they came through though and now the community has more to look forward to.”

Although the city brought about these changes with constant input from the community board, it’s up to the community to help preserve them and do its part in keeping these parks clean and safe. “The Bronx has a reputation for being dangerous and our parks are apparently filled with gangs and drugs,” said the Puerto Rican and Dominican mother of one, while sitting on the front steps of the center. “Yet that’s not necessarily true, if people make an effort to preserve our parks and make them family oriented places none of those things would be relevant.”

The Oval shaped public park received $15 million for renovation efforts, about 1.5 million less than Van Courtland Park, the borough’s biggest park, which is scheduled to have construction of a water filtration plant for the Croton water supply under the Mosholu Golf course. Smaller Bronx parks received about $1 million and change, depending on what kind of renovations were necessary.

Like Martinez, Van Courtland Park sanitation employee Jason Deluis, dressed in a green uniform with parks sanitation written across the back, said he was pleased with the announcement of changes especially since, according to him, they could make his job easier as well as provide a much needed escape for the community. “Things in this area aren’t always so great and people deserve to have a decent place to take their families that won’t cost them money, especially with this economy and still have a good time,” said the 42-year-old Gun Hill resident who was interview while he was handling trash bags. “It was long overdue.”

Deluis said sarcastically that the Clinton High School students have made his job cleaning up the park difficult because “they have never heard of garbage cans.” But the rehabilitation could now encourage visitors to keep the park cleaner. “Hopefully they notice the several trash cans that will be in place all over the park and make my life a bit easier,” he said.


Milesska J. Contreras can be reached at mcontre@hunter.cuny.edu