In
June 2002, building on an earlier project
that documented conditions at Eibs
Pond Park, the Design Trust began work with
the Staten Island office of the New York
City Department of Parks & Recreation to
create a schematic design for the park's
southern edge, an area plagued by dumping
and vandalism.
The design was explicitly
created as a prototype, to illustrate how
New York City park-edge and entrance design
could integrate state-of-the-art stormwater
filtration technology to protect the park's
ecology. This unconventional approach recognizes
that restoration of Eibs natural environment
is fundamental to the park's recovery as
a community resource.
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The
natural habitat of Eibs Pond Park is a
living educational resource not only for
the public elementary school that sits
on its edge but also for naturalists visiting
the site. However, the park's kettle ponds,
formed over 12,000 years ago by glacial
activity, had been polluted by stormwater
runoff, causing invasive plants to overtake
the pond. By stemming this contamination,
the design allows the ponds' native flora
and fauna to re-emerge. Developing the
threshold between city and park also creates
defensible spaces by increasing visibility
and use.
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