By The TimesLedger
There probably is not a park in all of Queens that gets better use than the Flushing Meadows Corona Park. At the center of the park is the Unisphere, a reminder of two World Fairs that turned the eyes of the world toward Queens.
The two lakes that run the length of the park are in horrible condition. The committee that is working to bring the Summer Olympics to New York City in 2012 has grand plans for these lakes. Right now Meadow and Willow Lakes are an ecological disaster, the result of poor planning by the great Robert Moses.
Under the Olympic plan, the two lakes would be combined into one lake, becoming a 2,000-meter regatta center designed for rowing and flat-water canoeing competitions. A consultant hired by NYC2012 has come up with a plan that includes dredging the lakes, which would make them deeper and increase the surrounding marsh area.
This will cost a ton of money, but it will be money well spent if the committee can succeed in getting the Olympics to come here.
The work will take three years and will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. On the bright side, the work would create hundreds of jobs and would raise property values in Corona, Forest Hills and Flushing.
We have always been excited about bringing the Olympics to the city. This is just one more reason why.
