Park to get $1.4 million facelift and dog run

A park in Sunnyside is in such doggone bad shape that it’ll take $1.4 million to refurbish it.
Lou Lodati Park in the western Queens neighborhood got a boost from Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer and Borough President Helen Marshall, who allocated $700,000 each to add a state-of-the-art dog run, among other amenities, to the park.
The City Council voted unanimously in favor of the park’s renovations on Thursday, June 2. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin spring 2012 and the park will open spring 2013.
“It is important to maintain and enhance the local parks that support quality of life and make our neighborhoods great places to live and work,” said Van Bramer at the unveiling on before the vote on June 2. “Among the many new features, the renovations will provide a terrific dog run that the many dog lovers in the area will appreciate. I am pleased to announce this much needed update to Lou Lodati Park, which will benefit the ever growing and vibrant community in Sunnyside.”
Besides a hangout for neighborhood pooches, the park will have many upgrades for human visitors as well. The upgrades will include modern basketball courts, a resurfaced softball field, Ecuadorian volleyball courts, expanded lighting and additional greenery, including new trees and shrubs.
Dorothy Lewandowski, Queens Parks Commissioner, said that the park will also be a lot more colorful – instead of the usual asphalt, each section of the park will be colored in a different hue. She also said that the new array of trees and shrubs will keep the park looking bright, even through the gray of winter.
The real winners of this park renovation are the four-legged residents. The Sunnyside United Dog Society (SUDS) has been lobbying for a dog run for many years and finally it seems their howls have been answered.
“We knew this would come through,” said Rick Duro, SUDS president, who led a pack of Sunnyside dogs and their owners. “We kept on fighting for it.”
Van Bramer and the Borough President have led that fight for a greener Queens since both took office. Marshall said that beautifying neighborhoods has always been important to her, as it gives future generations neighborhood focal points and eliminates concrete eyesores.
“An investment in our parks is an investment in the future,” said the Borough President. “At the present time, it is my pleasure to say that since becoming Queens Borough President I have had the privilege to allocate more than $142 million in capital funding to urban oases like this one here.”