Projects in Planning
The Battery Garden Bikeway
Existing Conditions
Proposed Rendering
The Battery Garden Bikeway will link the Hudson River Park Bikeway to the East River Esplanade. The bikeway will include new park entrances, unique perennial gardens and separate areas for bikers and pedestrians. To celebrate The Battery’s rich history, ten existing monuments, representing our nation’s explorers, defenders and inventors, will be relocated to the park’s perimeter edge. Many of the monuments’ new placements will be situated at park entrances that correspond to the existing street pattern. This will create strong view corridors to help lead visitors to the park, especially at night when the monuments will be illuminated.
The Town Green: Today
The Town Green will expand and reconfigure the park’s four acre entrance, which runs between Broadway’s axis and the site of Castle Clinton National Monument. It will transform this section of the Battery into a large, open Town Green, a vast grassy oval worthy of its role as the gateway to Broadway. The broad lawn with its dramatic view of Castle Clinton and the harbor beyond will greet visitors entering the Battery from Bowling Green. This open space will be designed to allow a variety of uses including picnicking, music festivals, outdoor films, and simple outdoor relaxation.
The Town Green will serve as the major public assembly space for the downtown area. The seating capacity for the Town Green is estimated at 15,000 people. This will now be the center for all concerts, dance performances, festivals, and other public events.
The Battery Lawn: Today
The renovation of the Lawn will include improved drainage and creation of a proper irrigation system. The existing impacted soil will be removed. New soil will be augmented by better seed mixtures and improved turf management.
The Lawn, which is adjacent to the playground, will be used for flexible, passive recreation. It will be enlarged with the elimination of asphalt paths and its mature woodlands will be enhanced with shade gardens.
It is our intent that the lawn will host temporary sculptural exhibitions. Its adjacency to the Battery Carousel will encourage family picnicking and relaxation. All concerts which previously used this space will be transferred to the Town Green, which will offer improved site lines and proper electrical connections.
The Castle: Today
The Battery Conservancy has taken the first steps toward realizing the rebuilding of Castle Clinton. Thomas Phifer & Partners and Beyer Blinder Belle won the international competition in 1999 and have completed the conceptual design to take the Castle into the 21st century.
The rebuilt Castle will have three functions. It will act as a transportation hub for the growing heritage tourism and recreational use of New York Harbor and the lower Hudson Valley. It will become a venue for the performing arts, reviving the spirit of Castle Garden (1824–1855). And it will house a new interpretive center that will focus on the myriad layers of history at The Battery, encouraging visitors to explore their individual heritage as well as that of the city and the nation. Like the park that surrounds it, the revitalized Castle will welcome, orient, educate, entertain and inspire our millions of visitors from around the world.
Design Team: Thomas Phifer & Partners and Beyer Blinder Belle