McCarren Park Track And Field Opens After Year-Long Renovation

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — The cold may be keeping runners inside for now, but once it gets warm enough McCarren Park will be ready to welcome them back — with an all new track and field.

The fences have finally opened around the park's synthetic turf field and the quarter-mile track that surrounds it, three months earlier than originally planned. A $3 million reconstruction of the track and field had closed that section off for nearly a year.

"The whole track and multipurpose turf field will officially reopen this week, ahead of schedule!" Parks Department spokesperson Mae Ferguson said in an email. "Our original estimate was that it would reopen in March."

There wasn't an official ribbon-cutting for the new field because of the cold, Ferguson added, but the gates should be open for runners or visitors to stop by.

The renovation includes an entirely new track and field, as well as some new additions for parkgoers.

Bleachers, adult fitness equipment, a misting station, drinking fountains, new benches and plantings were all added to the field grounds. Goal posts will also be coming later this spring, Ferguson said.

Plans for the revamp began in 2016, she added, when the department held a well-attended community meeting to hear input from park users.

The feedback fueled the renovation, which construction started for in March 2017.

Before that, the field and track hadn't been renovated in over a decade, meaning it was due for a facelift.

"The synthetic turf field and track was last upgraded in 2005 and is heavily used, so it has been in need of renovation for some time," Ferguson said.

The track and field revamp is part of a few capital projects taking place at McCarren. Plans are also in the works to reconstruct Ballfield 3, the park's pool and bathhouse and bring in energy-efficient ballfields lights.

Photos by Anna Quinn/Patch.