Queen’s West State Park
My involvement was threefold: construction management for Andrew Simons’ sign program; art direction for Gerald Boulet’s cartography, and planning and design for an interpretive program. Ensuring Andy’s design intent was paramount for me, and working with classmate Gerry was a pleasure. From a design perspective, digging into Long Island’s rich past was eye-opening.
Historically Hunters Point was the freight gateway to Long Island. Railroad freight cars sent to Hunters Point by barge arrived by rail (with goods from Long Island) before being transferred to barge (called a float by railroaders), where they were sent to Manhattan. Today, all that remains of that industrial heritage are the ‘gantries.’ In the day, they were known as “gallows frames” or “supporting towers” and were parts of a structure called a “float” or “transfer” bridge. The preservation of the gantries was an important part of master-plan for this park.
Thankfully, for the project and the community, dismantling the gantries cost more than rehabilitation. However, preserving the features which conveyed its historical, cultural, or architectural values through the process of repair, alterations, led to other issues and discussions. The process of rehabilitation removed the guts of the gantries: large engines of cogs and wheels meant to raise and lower trains and barges. Enormous and potentially dangerous, we struggled with what to do with these remnants. They made no sense at ground level—out of context—and they took up valuable space for such a small park. Today the rehabiltated “supporting towers” serve as a reminder that Hunters Point was an important gateway to Queens, and the internal mechanisms are buried under an amplitheatre-like landscape element nearby, waiting to be discovered or used in another way some future da.
Another important discussion centred how to deal with the neon Pepsi-Cola sign, visible from Manhattan and the East River. It was originally installed atop the cola’s bottling factory nearby. The sign was likely manufactured by the General Outdoor Advertising Company and was New York state's longest electric sign (50-foot or 15 m) when completed in 1940. The bottle depiction was replaced in the 1970s, and the rundown sign was rebuilt in 1993. When the Pepsi facility was closed in 2003, the sign was relocated to the park. While working on the project, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission began holding hearings on whether to make the sign a city landmark. It was dismantled and reassembled into a permanent location within the park in 2009, though it was not designated as such until 2016.
For this designer, this project included an introduction to adaptive reuse concepts and nomenclature, specifically terms like preservation, conservation, restoration, and rehabilitation, along with others like preventive conservation and interventive conservation. However, it was the notion of how to talk about the past in the built environment in contemporary forms that remains a theme to this day. These mighty towers serve as a reminder that Hunters Point was an important gateway to Queens; and so today, a revitalized Hunters Point is Queens’ gateway to the 21st century.
Firm of Record: Thomas Balsley Associates Environmental graphic design team: Two Twelve Harakawa Design: David Gibson (principal in charge), Andrew Simons (project manager, lead design), Ben Goodman (lead design), Jean Lambertus (design assistant), John deWolf, (interpretive program lead, construction administration) Client: Queens West Development Corporation Timeframe: 1996–1999 Location: Hunters Point, Queens, New York, USA
Consultants Beyer Blinder Belle (master plan), Gruzen Samton (master plan), Lee Weintraub (landscape architect), R LA/di Domenico + Partners (landscape architect), Domingo Gonzalez (lighting design).
Award: American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) • 2001 ASLA Professional Awards – Honour Award, Design • Gantry Plaza State Park • Thom Balsley Associates (signage and interpretive plan by Two Twelve Associates)
