Revised Ennis Playground Plan Gets Community Backing

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — Community Board 6 voted Wednesday to support a Parks Department plan to completely refurbish Gowanus' Ennis Playground.

In September, Parks showed the board its initial design for the playground, which sits between 11th Street and 12th Street, and between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue.

The design included a new synthetic turf field, a basketball court, play spaces for small children (aged 2 to 5) and older ones (5 to 12), as well as bike racks, lighted pathways, new play equipment, 30 benches, two accessible entrances, and 240 feet of seating along low walls.

The Parks Department's initial design

Those at the September meeting were generally supportive of the idea, but a few residents who live adjacent to the park asked if the adult seating area could be moved to limit late-night noise.

Parks eventually returned with a modified design that accomplished that goal without sacrificing any elements of the design:

The revised Ennis Playground rendering

Additionally, according to the community board, the new design also adds an extra entrance and exit to the park, as also requested by the community. (A correction: Patch incorrectly reported yesterday that CB 6's parks committee didn't support the revised design.)

On Wednesday, CB 6 voted overwhelmingly to approve the second design. The park's rehabilitation has already been funded using $1.8 million from Gowanus Councilman Brad Lander's office, as well as $650,000 from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, according to the board.

The park must now go through the city's normal construction process, including 9 months to assign contracts for the work and 12 to 18 months for construction.

In other nearby neighborhood news, CB 6 also voted to back a liquor license application for Hometown Pan Fried Chicken, a new restaurant aiming to open next spring at 329 Van Brunt St. in Red Hook.

Renderings of Ennis Playground courtesy of the NYC Parks Department