New-York tribune., 1907-09-15
PARK IMPROV VEMENIS.
Work Begun on Ne7o Ninth A0en"e
Entrance.

Entrance.
In the last week ground was hr"Keh aI '''e
entrance Of Prospect Park at Ninth avenue and
15tb street for a work Of Improvement whicfs
the people Of the ncighborhood have long await
Cd This is the construction of an artistic en-
trance the design for which was one OF the last
productions Of the late Stanford white II calls
for two granite shafts. surm"unted by hroIze
trinods and a granite baustrade. with walks
and other improvements. The cost Of the un-
dertaking will he. with the Improvement OF the
park lands adjoining. about $4,000 Inc stone
work by itself viii cost about $4,000 IL Is
hoped that all will be completed by next sum
NOR With this entrance improved only one OF
the major entrances remain 70 be oeantlfni'
This latter is opposite the unimproved lands IN
r5tb street half way between Ninth avenue ana
rho Ocean Parkway entrance. The Work on lle
18th street and Ninth avenue entrance was ue-
ra,.ed by- the character Of the dwellings when
surrounded it until within the last Few years
Il Is now only the matter OF short time "heh
all the surrounding neighhorhood will be Of the
first class. The poor dwellings are now entfeiy
gone from the Ninth avenue side. and the I'M
provement Of the lands along 18th street Is
beginning
one Of the improvements which have oeeh gu
ing on for many months and are now IN progress
,..iI interest All horsemen II Is the "orh on
tba ocean ParEway The park laborers are now
busy building the main road from tAe par 80 ~
o.. rr,rcDty-secoud street, distance or TWO
niles The roadway Is to be remade WIN iiuu
son River gravel The material VII. COS 't l,,ar
co. ono and the labor and apparatus another
CO.. ooo Al the same time half of the roadWaSS
in tho park are being Terndue win 'He cI
material at cost of &2n,ooo; II mas p,eu ~ Iwt,'ru @
+hat Gravel Is better In the long run than mac
adam II wears uniformly, while maetdain Is
RAPIDLY spoiled ny the automopiIGS- Iut -
seem suck out the ItlS iI''''''4''' 'o
coarse bed exposed. -, 7. l.,
The uark has also started an innovation II -
the sprinkling Of the roads, as theF are ~ ~Hl'.t,,
,,,itb "a ureDaration Of crude oil, soap ana water
as a dust settler. The treatment, ACCORDING 10
the authorities, is a great success. ~ iI'SS 20,
roadway must be sprinNed every 1mIte I ,-, u"yS
but later once week Is SuflcleH' Inc P'yt
ration causes only slight tar odor ana uovS
not stick to the shoes of people WalklhS over n
In the last few months the oilcltlS nav @ ii'u
ran,,-ad some two hundred ana ntty oid trees
and a great number of stumps ana piaIt'nt - ""'L' t
six hundred new trees. IheSe cost tooHt - -, -
,rba trees planted on the upper portion OF the
road We're Norway naples. ana th"Se near
Coney Island English elns. Thirty employees
are kept busy watering and oth'FWlSe I'"N-
ing after the young plants. similar work & mas
been going on in the park There about elGht
hundred old trees and many wagon ioauS 50 ol
stunps were rooted out and replaced pE ron i
civ hundred to seven hundred new trees or all
varieties, costing from So TO $40 each. 49,,
During the summer two park hulIIsS h@Eo aE
been opened, both worthy OF note one ~ 'L''
great locker building on the Parade 1Iouitus, G
II is built of brick and wood. ana mas laI6t
wooden
,bou+ $40 OaO The building, with It's many
rooms for athletic clubs. It's thousand lockers
and its baths sorely needed me helsn-
boring Parade Grounds are popular ana an eilu
less number of clubs. Interested IN all manner
of athletic sports frequent It's broad anu leNSt
acras i'm the spring summer and fall. Ihe ola
locker buildings were little more than shantles
They were put up about thirty-nve years ago
merely for temporary use ana they S'aSeu' u
be a disgrace to the park.
Another eycsore lust torn down after having
streached its ugly form over what is one or the
prettiest hooks along the lake front Tor Soii'o
thrty-fiVe years. is the old boathouSc. II ''iSo
was put up merely as a temporary structure
The new boathousc, not far from the site of the
Old but in Il better situation, is one OF the most
attractive buildings Of its kind in any park. il is
said |: is built of white terra Gotta tiles. with
green decorations. Before IL is n granite pier
for the boatmen. With the land improvements
about it this building cost $9o,bo- While II
may not accommodate the crowds which the old
structure could hold. il is at any rate far more
In keeping with the surroundings.
Like all the other city departments. the Park
Department is having trouble in getting what it
wants For year or so II has been trying TO
get a bidder to build a tennis locker building.
The sum OF S600o0 has been appropriated for
the purpose by the city fathers. and the lowest
bidder will not do the work for less than S66 600
The structure when it is put up will be of gran
ite and Indiana limestone. II is greatly needed
Thousands of young people play tennis the
Long Meadow every summer day, and there are
now locker accommodations for them. 1t is
proposed to put the building of the
knobs near the 9TH street path. The building
of this structure will enable the officials to tear
down the ugly and rotting shelter the 9TH
street path. similar temporary shelter will
be built near the Willink entrance on the
opposite side of the park. The land near the
Willink entrance is less developed. and il is a
much greater distance from the Park Slope dis
trict of the city In time. also the neighbor-
ing merry-go-round is soon to follow the So
called picnic shelter" to the Willink entrance.
Another feature that is soon to disappear from
the park is the swanboat The swanboats have
been manipulated for many years on the little
lake the 9th street path. The lake. like
the duck pond across the park. is deep, its bot
tom having been taken for the of the long
lake. The park authorities have determined that
It has menaCed the lives of the children of
Brooklyn long enough. The whole swanboat
lake is now to be remodelled. paths to be
built around IL. trees and shrubs TO be
planted and aquatic plants set out in the water.
This work has already been begun. 1t will cost
between $4,000 and $4,000.
This is TO be followed In time by the removal
Of the duck pond. probably 1t Ia not n~n-iA-