Danger Keep Out. Van Cortlandt Parade Grounds - Bronx. More DPR Capital problems. Renovations began in 2009. The fields were slated to open last spring, but numerous issues have caused the project to be delayed. The fields will now be closed until fall of 2012. The project is part of a $15 million renovation of the 65-acre Parade Grounds, however the park's baseball and soccer fields reopened in 2010. Critics say the Parks Department is treating cricket like a second-class sport:
"For baseball or soccer I'm quite sure they would have made other arrangements," Milford Lewis, president of the New York Cricket League, fumed.
Bronx
Bronx parkgoers and cricket players are getting crabby about renovation delays at theVan Cortlandt Park Parade Grounds.
The Parks Department won't reopen eight cricket fields until next fall because the renovated Parade Grounds contain weeds and crab grass, said an agency spokesman, according to the New York Daily news.
The renovations began in 2009 and the fields were slated to open last spring. But the Parks Department contractor hired to reseed the turf has botched the job twice, said Bob Bender, Community Board 8 parks committee chairman.
Now, the cricket fields will remain closed for a third straight spring season.
"When we heard, we were devastated," said Milford Lewis, president of the New York Cricket League. "I don't know if my league will survive."
Before the renovations began, the Riverdale park adjacent to Broadway was a mecca for cricket players from around New York, including immigrants from the United Kingdom, South Asia and the West Indies. The Parade Grounds boast 10 fields for the popular international game. Two of them reopened last July.
Two major cricket groups, the New York Cricket League and Commonwealth Cricket League, use the sprawling park.
The $15 million renovation of the 65-acre Parade Grounds began in 2008 and is mostly complete. The park's baseball and soccer fields reopened in 2010.
But the cricket fields remained closed last spring due to bare patches of turf. They were reseeded over the summer, but still contain weeds. Now the contractor will try again, this time with more Parks oversight.
"I understand that Parks wants the contractor to do the job right," Bender said. "But being deprived of part of the Parade Grounds for an additional year is a tremendous blow to the community and the cricket players.
"Parks has really dropped the ball here," he said.
But Bender is concerned that the third time won't be the charm. He said the cricket players would rather play on crab grass and weeds than not play at all.
"The grass may not be exactly what [Parks] wanted, but there's no shortage of it," he said. "We can't wait for it to be perfect."
The renovations are being paid for through the $240 million Croton Water Filtration Plant mitigation fund, created to offset the impact of building the facility in another part of Van Cortlandt Park.
Lewis said his league was unable to play at all last spring and summer. Parks is treating cricket like a second-class sport, he said.
"For baseball or soccer I'm quite sure they would have made other arrangements," he fumed.
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