Landscape Information
Built on the Staten Island shores of the Kill Van Kull by architect Frederick H. Zurmuhlen, Jr. in 1932, this approximately four-acre site along Richmond Terrace near the Faber Street intersection is characterized by its waterfront location. Built on what was once the north shore estate of the Faber family, who built the first lead pencil factory in the United States, the site affords views of the Bayonne Bridge (which opened in 1931) and was placed under the city’s parks jurisdiction in 1928. At the time of construction, the design, which included Staten Island’s largest public swimming pool (designed by Sibley & Fetherston), a wading pool, a seawall, and a recreation building, was lauded for its use of eighteen different hues of natural stone, and was compared to Southern California architecture. The park more than doubled in size in 1941. The site has seen heavy reinvestment, including a $1.5 million rehabilitation effort in 1996, and in 2015, a new skate park, which is composed of several interconnected circles that were arranged to take advantage of the site’s sloping topography. In 2016 the park was chosen as one of eight New York City parks that would receive funding towards their rehabilitation efforts with the goal of making them better-integrated into the neighborhoods they serve. The park features basketball courts, an outdoor pool, playgrounds, and a skate park. The four sections of the park are separated by paths and plantings, with the skate park in the southwest, a circular lawn overlooking the river and edged by canopy trees in the northwest, a field house and pool in the northeast, and an oval drive with grass and trees at the center in the southeast.
