Springfield Park is a public park in Springfield Gardens, in southeast

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It consists of , including the sizable Springfield Lake at its center. It is located on the west side of Springfield Boulevard between 145th Road and 147th Avenue, less than a mile north of

JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is t ...

. It is maintained by the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

History

Springfield Park is located in a low-lying area that once had many springs, which is why 17th century settlers named the area Spring Field. Those settlers built a pond for irrigation purposes in the area that later became the park. As early as 1750 a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

operated at the south end of the pond, which was connected to the water supply system of the City of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in 1854. In 1932 a nearby sewer construction project destroyed the pond, which had already become polluted and was no longer used for water supply. The city then filled in the area for use as a park. In 1964 the city assigned control of all former water supply areas, including Springfield Park, to the Parks Department. A proposal in the 1970s by the city to convert the park into an industrial facility was successfully opposed by community activists led by

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

member Guy Brewer. The area remained a park, though it became rundown. In 1999 the rehabilitation of the park began with the reconstruction of a playground. As of 2013, the park, according to the Parks Department website, "contains two full-size basketball courts, two baseball diamonds, two tennis courts, swings, a spray shower, play equipment with safety surfacing, benches, a flagpole with a yardarm, and a central pond with two bridges." In October 2012 the city started the construction of a $69 million project to improve drainage of stormwater in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood. The project, which is slated to be completed in 2014, also seeks to improve water quality in

Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay (also known as Grassy Bay) is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lo ...

, the ultimate destination of all stormwater in the area. A key element of these improvements is a new "Bluebelt", the city's word for a manmade wetland that stores and cleanses stormwater before discharge into an

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

. New storm sewers will discharge stormwater into a "forebay" in the northern part of Springfield Park, where sediment will settle out of the water, and through an open channel into the existing Springfield Lake. The channel will have a marshy border featuring native wetland plants. The lake will be dredged to twice its current depth in order to improve water quality and discourage algae blooms.

References

{{Protected areas of New York City Parks in Queens, New York Urban public parks Jamaica, Queens