Eibs Pond Park

Staten Island, NY

Restoring the ecologically-disturbed boundary of an urban wetland in an underserved neighborhood through intertwining strategies of circulation, programming, and stormwater management

Squeezed between a railway line, expressway, and low-income housing blocks, the 17-acre wetland that is now Eibs Pond Park survived decades of deforestation, erosion, and dumping. In a multi-phase project in collaboration with public organizations, MPA has helped to realize the site’s extraordinary potential as wildlife refuge, environmental education center, and gathering place for the diverse cultural communities surrounding the park, yet cut off from each other.

To reconnect surrounding communities to the park, the watershed, and one another, the Strategic Plan for Eibs Pond Park identified two sets of thresholds: that between city and park, and that between land and water.

The Thresholds Project undertaken with the Design Trust for Public Space negotiates the site’s ecologically-disturbed southern boundary, where park trails and city sidewalks dead-end, overcome by invasive plants, eroded topography, and accumulated debris. MPA employed strategies of stormwater management, increased visual and physical access, and edge programming to redefine the notion of perimeter control, in support of access and walkability.

The project integrates urban, social, and ecological issues with the restoration of a degraded wetland, transforming a disused site into a valuable community resource.

Completion Date

2003

Collaborators

Friends of Eib’s Pond Park

DesignTrust for Public Space

Fox Hill Tenant Association

Public School 57

NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation

Recognition

The Power of Pro Bono, 2010

Places Design Journal, Award for Place Design, 2003

AIA/US Dept of Housing & Urban Development, Community Building by Design Award, 2003

Staten Island AIA, Honor Awards, 2002 + 2003

Harvard Design Magazine, 2000