Calvert Vaux Park facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Calvert Vaux Park
Location	Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York, US
Area	85.53 acres (34.61 ha)
Created	1933
Operated by	New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
Open	6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Status	open

Calvert Vaux Park is a large public park in Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York City. It covers about 85.53 acres (34.61 hectares). The park was first opened in 1934. It is made up of several parts located along the Belt Parkway. These sections are found between Bay 44th and Bay 49th Streets.

The park sits on a piece of land that points southwest into Gravesend Bay. This area is just north of the Coney Island Creek. The park was made bigger in the 1960s. This happened using extra dirt from building the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. In 1998, the park was renamed after the famous architect Calvert Vaux. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation manages the park.

What Makes Calvert Vaux Park Special?

Calvert Vaux Park is located where the Coney Island Creek flows into Gravesend Bay. It is named after Calvert Vaux, a landscape architect. He helped design famous parks like Central Park and Prospect Park. Vaux was last seen near Bath Beach in 1895. He was later found in Gravesend Bay.

Playgrounds and Sports Areas

There is a playground area northeast of the Belt Parkway. It is bordered by the parkway's service road, Bay 45th and 46th Streets, and Cropsey Avenue. This playground was the first part of the park to open. It has fun play structures for kids. You can also find two bocce courts, two handball courts, and two basketball courts here.

The main part of the park is across the Belt Parkway. It includes a large peninsula and a smaller area called Six Diamonds. A small water channel, Calvert Vaux Cove, separates these two sections. The peninsula is south of Adventurers Amusement Park. It has three baseball fields and six soccer fields. A bike path runs along the peninsula. This path is part of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

The Six Diamonds section has six more baseball fields. It also has two football fields. These football fields sometimes overlap with the baseball diamonds. The Coney Island Creek runs next to the peninsula and Six Diamonds areas. This creek is home to a unique boat graveyard. It has more than two dozen old ships. Many of these ships have been there since the park was expanded in the 1960s.

How Calvert Vaux Park Grew Over Time

Early Beginnings of the Park

The area where Calvert Vaux Park is now was once planned as a harbor. The park started as a small playground on Cropsey Avenue. It was named after the Dreier Offerman Home for Unwed Mothers. This home gave some land to New York City when it closed in 1933. The families of Theodor Dreier and Henry Offerman also gave $20,000 for the park's construction.

In 1932, The New York Times newspaper mentioned the parkland was already set aside. They also suggested adding more land to make the park complete. When the Dreier Offerman Playground opened on November 9, 1934, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia spoke. He said it took five years to get the land. However, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses pushed for the project to start quickly.

The park was first made larger in 1944. Another expansion was paid for by a New York State bond act in 1960. To get funding, each park had to be at least 25 acres. So, the city planned a large park in each of its five boroughs. The city approved a 72-acre expansion for Dreier Offerman Park. This new land was created using landfill from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge construction. This brought the park's total size to 73 acres. Much of this land was previously underwater.

The permit for dumping ended in 1972. A group of architecture students from the City College of New York were hired to redesign the park. At that time, illegal dumping was still happening. Old cars and wildflowers shared the space. These plans were never fully built because there wasn't enough money. Part of the landfill site was sold in 1984 to a private company. By the 1990s, the park was full of weeds, broken electronics, and trash. Parks commissioner Henry Stern said in 1997 that the park "just lay there as the garbage settled for 35 years."

Making the Park Better

In 1990, NYC Parks suggested adding a boat launch, an outdoor theater, and a natural wetland area. A fire in 1994 damaged a storage trailer used by a youth program. At that time, the New York Daily News reported that Dreier Offerman Park had three baseball fields and two soccer fields. About 1,000 people used the park every week. By 1997, the Times reported five soccer fields. The park was also a popular spot for fishing. Sports teams had to maintain the fields to use them. A cleanup project happened in 1995.

In 1997, plans for a 40-acre golfing area were announced. This would include a driving range with 80 hitting spots. There would also be an 18-hole miniature golf course, a golf shop, and food stands. Other plans included a roller rink and batting cages. The remaining 33 acres would become new baseball and soccer fields. A company called Family Golf Centers would run the golf facility. This project faced opposition from local residents. They felt it was wrong to privatize public parkland. Many thought the plan was "ill-conceived."

The park was renamed Calvert Vaux Park in 1998. The playground was renovated for $2 million in November 2000. It received new courts, play areas, a restroom, and fresh lawns. NYC Parks announced a $40 million park restoration in 2007. This was part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan. He wanted every New Yorker to be within a 10-minute walk of a park. The project was to be finished by 2011. It included three baseball fields, six soccer fields, picnic areas, a lawn, an amphitheater, and a bike path. The first two new turf soccer fields were done in 2008. A 3.5-acre waterfront area for water birds was finished in 2013. NYC Parks showed more renovation plans in 2019. City Council members Justin Brannan and Mark Treyger asked for $80 million for these updates.

See also

In Spanish: Calvert Vaux Park para niños