The Bogardus Garden and Plaza at Hudson Street between Reade and Chambers Streets is getting a makeover. Plans to redesign the plaza are now underway after the Department of Transportation issued a $2 million grant last year to the Friends of the Bogardus Garden group, which maintains the space.
The goal is to turn the fenced-in garden and surrounding plaza into one 9,000-square-foot permanent public space. According to Friends of the Bogardus Garden, enhancements to the site include adding lighting, permanent seating and planting of more trees and plants.
The space was created in 2010 temporarily by the DOT as they began work on the Chambers Street construction project. But Friends of the Bogardus Garden began pushing to make the plaza permanent and gained support from residents and local businesses.
The entire redesign is set to cost $3 million. According to Friends of the Bogardus Garden, they have already managed to secure $300,000 in private funds and $400,000 in public funds in addition to the funding from DOT. The group hopes that local TriBeCa architects Matthews Neilson Landscape Architects will be selected by DOT to design the new space. The project is set to be complete in 2017.
The garden was named after James Bogardus, a 19th century architect and pioneer of the cast iron architecture seen in TriBeCa.
