Pick One: Choosing a Design For Bogardus Garden and Plaza

One of the proposed concepts for unifying Bogardus Garden and Plaza. This one includes seats in the form of immovable "eggs" resting on a deck, a playful addition especially aimed at children. Rendering: Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects

Last month Tribeca residents got their first peek at what may well be the plan for a boldly beautified Bogardus Garden and Plaza.

But which plan?

That was the question posed to a small public gathering at the Downtown Community Center on May 27, where Signe Nielsen of Mathews Nielsen Landscape Arch­itects presented three possible schemes for merging the garden and plaza that form the triangle on Hudson Street between Chambers and Reade streets.

The three plans, informed by comments and wish lists at a public “listening session” in February, each feature a different major design element: an elevated walkway through the garden; nooks and curves and an enlarged area for events; or a partially unfenced garden with emphasis on a variety of seating options.

“Garden plus plaza equals a new kind of space,” Nielsen told the group, who had been given comment sheets on which to express their likes and dislikes about each option.

All the plans for the 12,000-square- foot space call for adding new trees (four or five, de­pend­ing on the plan) and about the same amount of green space (28 percent). They will also include additional plantings in the garden, cobblestone-like pavement, a required 16-foot-wide path through the plaza for emergency vehicles, a clock and movable furniture similar to what is there now.

With the feedback in mind, the landscape architects will develop a final scheme, to be shown to the Com­munity Board 1’s Tribeca and Landmarks committees, possibly as early as July. Before going forward, the design would still need the approval of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Com­mission. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2016 and be completed a year later.

The $3 million project is being funded in part by a $2 million grant from the city’s Department of Transportation, and additional money from elected officials and private donations.

What Do You Think?

The city and Friends of Bogardus Garden want to know your opinion. Email your choice or suggestions to  info@bogardusgarden.org.

For details of the plans, see the slide show below.

CONCEPT A: “ELEVATED STAGE”

At a public design workshop in February, some said they wanted more opportunity to enjoy the garden, which now is fenced. This concept provides a path that cuts through the garden. In order to do that without destroying the plantings, the walkway would be raised and entered by a ramp from the south. The path and park could also be entered from near the corner of Reade Street and West Broadway.

“That would bring us up 18 inches or so and provide a continuous seating element along the [west] side,” Signe Nielsen said. The platform, she noted, could serve as a stage.

This concept provides only “slightly less” green than the other two, according to Nielsen, because of the path through the garden. The two existing London Plane trees would remain in the garden, and four new flowering trees along with new plantings would be added.

CONCEPT B: “GARDEN CURVES”

Curves and nooks are created in this plan, which also provides a wider area on the plaza for events. Because this concept has the widest unplanted space of the three schemes, the area would be dotted with planters similar to those now in the plaza. There would be the same amount of green in this plan, Nielsen said, but it would be distributed differently. With the exception of the raised garden, the space would be flat.

In this scheme, the entire garden is fenced and rails surround the low planted areas. A wooden bench is integrated into the perimeter edge of the garden. A curved backless bench, not shown in this rendering, would be located near the subway elevator at the south end of the plaza.

As with Concept A, four new flowering trees as well as new plantings would be added. 

CONCEPT C: “NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY”

As a homage to the neighborhood’s history as a butter-and-egg district, some of the seating in this plan would be provided by immovable “eggs,” up to four feet long and 14 to 16 inches high that are placed along a deck on the plaza side of the garden.

“This scheme best accommodates something playful for children,” Nielsen said. “It also has the most diversity of seating from back benches that are tucked into the plantings and decks for people to sit on.”

In this plan, the West Broadway and Reade Street sides of the garden are fenced, but on the plaza side the seating element of the deck provides an unfenced edge of the garden.

Five new trees are added in this concept, and it includes a second type of paving over a large portion of the plaza.