Demand for football pitches at College Point has increased in recent years, but there aren’t enough to accommodate the players, City Council member Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) said last week.
So he got $ 4 million in funding to turn an unused baseball field at College Point Fields into a brand new football field.
The part of the site that will be renovated is the College Point baseball field near Ulmer Street and 26th Avenue. The new soccer field will be turf and surrounded by reconstructed sidewalks and improved drainage.
The parks department will plant new species of shrubs and wetlands to alleviate problems with puddling in green space, as well as to prune existing trees. The agency will also install new exit lanes to Linden Place and erect security lighting in several locations in addition to an ongoing effort of $ 2.8 million to install the lighting.
“Having places like this to develop for this type of recreation is desperately needed, especially in a pandemic world,” said James Cervino, environmental chair of Community Board 7 and vice chair of Coastal Preservation Network.
The project will be the second to take place at College Point Fields. The College Point sports complex is still under construction, but is slated for completion next October. When completed, it will feature a state-of-the-art football pitch. Part of the $ 7 million project, which included the addition of a hockey rink and baseball field, was completed in 2018.
Vallone is on a time-limited basis and will be stepping down in a few weeks, and noted that funding from College Point Fields will likely be Parks’ last partnership in his tenure.
“I couldn’t think of a better place or a better community to have it,” Vallone said.
