BY JILL SHEEHY

Plans were unveiled today, Aug. 1, for the restoration of Dreier-Offerman Park. The announcement came from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, State Senator Martin Golden and City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.

The $40 million effort will add new baseball and soccer fields, kayak launches, picnic areas, a central lawn, new restrooms, a bicycle path, new nature trails, an amphitheater, a playground, a recreation center, and a pavilion. Hopes are that the park will be a center for competitive soccer and baseball on the improved Brooklyn waterfront when work is completed in 2011.

"Right here at Dreier-Offerman Park, this allocation, this reconstruction project, this 'make-over,' will make this park a crown jewel when it opens in 2011,” said Senator Golden. “And it will be great for the Brooklyn economy, as those who come to this new recreational giant will shop in Brooklyn, dine in Brooklyn and support Brooklyn."

The 77-acre park is located in Bensonhurst and bounded by Gravesend Bay, Bay 44th Street, Bay 49th Street, and Shore Parkway.  

According to the City, Dreier-Offerman’s full potential was never realized because of a lack of coordinated plans and adequate funding.

“Completing these regional destination parks in all five boroughs will make them the jewels of our park system and increase usability and access for thousands of New Yorkers,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Combined with our efforts to open playgrounds in schoolyards and to reclaim brownfields for open space, we are committed to significantly improving and expanding our park system.”

The project is a part of the Mayor’s PlaNYC initiative, in which eight parks will be transformed into regional destinations.

Click here to read the Mayor's press release.