June 17, 2019 By Meghan Sackman
Elected officials cut the ribbon on William Cullen Bryant High School’s new $3.3 million sports field on Friday.
The sports area, located at the 48-10 31st Ave. school, includes a running track, turf field, batting cages, softball field, trees, benches, and fitness equipment. Construction began last fall.
The project was funded by Borough President Melinda Katz and The Trust for Public Land, an organization that works with students to design playgrounds and parks across the five boroughs.
The organization involves students in the design process and incorporates green infrastructure into all of its playgrounds.
The Trust for Public Land worked with students from Bryant High School in June 2018 to design the field, track and fitness equipment, according to a Trust for Public Land spokesperson.
The high school’s new sports complex, which is open to the public after school hours and on weekends, includes eco-friendly features such as newly-planted trees and gravel placed underneath the field. This prevents hundreds of thousands of gallons of runoff water from flooding streets and prevents untreated water from entering nearby rivers and bays.
“All residents of Queens deserve a great park within a 10-minute walk of home,” said Carter Strickland, The Trust for Public Land’s New York State Director. “This complex will provide more than 26,000 L.I.C. residents with a new and vibrant local green space to enjoy with their families.”
Borough President Melinda Katz said the new complex will encourage physical activity among children at the school and those living in the surrounding area.
“This state-of-the-art, environmentally-friendly athletic complex will greatly benefit the bright and talented students at William Cullen Bryant High School, while also making it more convenient and fun for nearby residents of all ages be physically active,” Katz said.
3 Comments
Congratulations to my former high school…. Graduating class of 1969.
Very nice new field, glad to see it made. The old one was pretty nasty.
The article says that it’s open to the public after school and on the weekend – do we need permits for this? Is it only available for pickup games (first come, first serve)? Or can groups get permits for specific times?
It,s nice to see the Owl is still recognized as the team mascot, and the team color’s haven’t changed. It looks great, and I wish those in the surrounding areas well in putting it all to good use. I played ball for Bryant back years ago, and I think most of our pre season practices were either in the gym, or at fields close by where we played our home games. Nice to see the changes – Enjoy.