Decades-old Woodside playground will reopen in January 2021

Woodside’s Hart Playground will feature separate spaces for adults and children when it reopens in January 2021. Rendering via Park Department.

By David Brand

A Woodside playground that dates back to the Eisenhower Administration will reopen in January 2021 after the city completes a yearlong overhaul.

The Parks Department began a $3.2 million reconstruction project last month at Hart Playground, located at 37th Avenue and 65th Street. The playground site was obtained by the city in 1954 and opened to the public in 1956. 

The project will be completed and the park will reopen by January 2021, the Parks Department said Monday. Queens leaders will attend a ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday.

The park has not undergone a renovation since 1996. Parents of children who played in the park complained that adult workers were congregating in the area, the Sunnyside Post reported in 2016. 

The renovated park will feature separate adult and child areas, including new basketball and volleyball courts physically separated from a playground and spray fountain area for children, according to a rendering on the Park Department website.

The park is named for General Joseph T. Hart, an Elmhurst resident and decorated member of the military who joined the National Guard’s 69th Regiment in 1920. He rose through the military to become a brigadier general and commanded a unit at the World War II Battle of Okinawa in April 1945.