$1.7 Million Adult Fitness Area Completed At Shoelace Park In Wakefield, The Bronx

Construction is finished on a new adult fitness area at Shoelace Park in Wakefield, The Bronx. The $1.7 million capital project converted outdated bocce courts into a concentrated fitness hub near East 225th Street, with ten exercise components, five of which are fully accessible to patrons with disabilities. The project also includes new seating, security lighting, shade trees, and reconstructed paths connecting the space to the rest of the park. Shoelace Park runs from East Gun Hill Road to East 230th Street as part of the Bronx River Greenway.

Crews rebuilt the existing approach path with new asphalt and added a secondary path with concrete steps providing access from the northern side of the park, while paths to the south were reconstructed, connecting the fitness area to other upgraded sections of Shoelace Park. A triangular planting bed along the flood-prone southwestern paths was replanted with water-tolerant species, and the surrounding path was regraded to improve drainage. Pruning along the reconstructed paths opened sight lines for safety.

Shoelace Park, via Google Maps.

Shoelace Park’s main pathway follows the roadbed of the original Bronx River Parkway, completed in 1925 and relocated from Bronx Boulevard to its present alignment alongside the Bronx River in 1950. The abandoned roadbed remained in place as the park’s upper path, and in November 2019 work began to reconstruct it into a multi-use trail with new wayfinding, seating, and green infrastructure, part of the 2010 Shoelace Park Master Plan produced by the Bronx River Alliance and NYC Parks.

The nearest subway is the 2 and 5 trains at the 225th Street station, and Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line stops at Williams Bridge station at Gun Hill Road.

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