Peter Minuit Playground – New York NY

Description

The property for this playground and the adjacent school (P.S. 108 also known as the Peter Minuit School) were both acquired in 1941. The Board of Education cleared old buildings and constructed the school on the West half of the block, while Parks and the WPA cleared the East half of the block and constructed a playground on the site. In October 1942, Parks announced the opening of this playground:

“The shortage of critical war materials which became acute after the construction of the playground was started made it necessary to omit temporarily all chain link fencing and metal goal standards and also prevented the completion of the brick comfort station. Because of the lack of bituminous material, concrete in various finishes was substituted for surfacing the play areas.

The following facilities have been completed: four handball courts, three shuffleboard courts and a softball diamond.

Paved areas for volleyball and basketball have been provided but will be used for open play until equipment is available.

New concrete sidewalks and street trees have been installed around the playground but only a few of the required number of benches have been provided.

Although the playground lacks necessary equipment it will serve in part the local recreational needs until material is available at the conclusion of the war.

The construction of the playground was done by the Work Projects Administration from plans prepared by the Department of Parks.”

The very last bits of the playground were completed by private contract after the WPA was shut down in 1943.

The playground is still in use, and has been further improved several times.