Sgt. William Dougherty Playground – Brooklyn NY

Description

This modest playground near the Northern edge of Brooklyn was developed under the New Deal. A Department of Parks press release from April 1, 1935 announced the opening of this playground “constructed with Work Relief Funds” and went on to describe the park’s development and new facilities:

“The playground at Vandervoort Avenue and Cherry Street has an area of nearly an acre. The land was acquired by the Sinking Fund Commission by purchase at a cost of £22,500 and it was turned over to the Department of Parks on April 3, 1924, for development as a playground, but the land lay dormant and undeveloped until the present program of playground construction was undertaken. It will contain a wading pool, a basketball court, eight kindergarten swings, six large swings, two handball courts, two playground slides, two kindergarten slides, eight see-saws, a horizontal bar, a set of parallel bars, a climbing ladder and a jungle gym. The area will also have a shelter house containing a playroom and conveniences. The exterior of the building has been completed.”

The exact New Deal agencies involved are not identified, but, as researcher Frank da Cruz explains here, the date suggests that federal support likely came from one or more of the CWA, the RFC or the PWA.

The playground is still extant, and may have been recently renovted.