New Parkland
Improvements to this section of the park would result in approximately 50 acres of new parkland (not including field 3).
The ribbon of asphalt, constituting the circuit during the race, would function as a 50 foot wide promenade-like surface for walking, running, and biking the remainder of the year, with each section interconnected by wide, temporary walkways placed across the grass.
The footprint of all circuit surfaces located west of parking field 4, including field 3, which remains closed and almost entirely unu
The underground tunnels, both existing and proposed, along with temporary modular walkways (see above) would seamlessly connect the beachfront boardwalk located south of Ocean Parkway with the acres of new parkland located north of Ocean Parkway.
Therefore, increasing the amount of hard-surface and grass-surface within the park available for public recreation.
> A park within the park.
Through this p
Regarding the proposed asphalt circuit surfaces.
If the New York State State Parks Department were to improve (convert) the quantity of land shown above, then hard-surface walkways, likely asphalt, would have to be installed.
This proposal suggests installing wider asphalt surfaces, rendering them dual-use for public recreation, and an annual global motorsport event.
The State Project has converted land in other areas of the park and foresees converting acres of land north of Ocean Parkway, with the intention of introducing permanent sports activities bringing life to this area of the park north of Ocean Parkway.
The U.S. Grand Prix at Jones Beach proposal involves improving (converting) a larger amount of land than the state project, while also introducing spo
New Parkland
A park within the park.
Once the new parkland has been created then the Parks Department can introduce sports activities. By utilizing temporary, inter-locking sport tile surfaces, manufactured by a remarkable company called SPORT COURT, can facilitate the installation of numerous sports activities within the new parkland, such as tennis, basketball, mini-soccer fields (calcetto), and volleyball.
Permanent courts can sustain damage during the winter months; the SPORT COURT product can be easily disassembled and stored during the winter.
In addition, the remarkable versatility and temporary nature of SPORT COURT allow both the location and quantity of each sport to be changed as needed, allowing unprecedented flexibility, which does not exist with permanent courts.
The permeable Sport Court tile system can also create large, solid-surface areas for recreation including open & covered seating areas.
Sport Court can be directly installed on a solid surface or over their ingenious SportBase foundation system, which could conceivably be engineered further by Sport Court for this application onto a firm and level grass surface.
Considering all the new parkland would be re-graded higher than its current elevation, means better permeability keeping the ground surface stable.
However, should a solid surface base be needed underneath each Sport Court for installation on grass, then engineered, pre-cast interlocking concrete panels > of manageable size could be trucked-in and laid into place on the grass like the pieces of a puzzle, forming the base on which each Sport Court can be installed. Then, inter-graded perimeter skirting can be installed, allowing safe transition from the surrounding grass and walkways, onto the Sport Court surface.
The relative ease of installation and removal of the Sport Court systems means each Sport Court (i.e., tennis or volleyball) can be:
- installed in the spring
- dismantled during the race
- re-installed after the race
- removed during winter to extend their economic life.
Within the context of this annual installation and dismantling process unique to Jones Beach, perhaps SPORT COURT could special engineer each sport-court for greater longevity.
New Parkland
Since parking field 3 (center) remains closed and unused for the majority of the year,
the spring-time installation cycle can be done on the 14-acre solid asphalt surface of field 3 to facilitate the fast removal of each court before the race.
The cost of this annual installation and dismantling cycle would be easily covered through the incremental tax revenue generated for the New York Parks Department
by the U.S. Grand Prix at Jones Beach.
Through this balanced and mutually beneficial proposal, public recreation within
Jones Beach can take on a completely new meaning, scope, and scale.