Garvies Point

<p>A new neighborhood has emerged on the shores of Hempstead Bay on Long Island, on a former industrial wasteland. Located along an inlet and connected by a waterfront promenade, the shops, restaurants, and playgrounds of Garvies Point are already a popular destination for residents of Glen Cove, NY. One of the most striking features is the playground with its distinctive dolphin tower. </p> <p>Just a few weeks after its inauguration, the park has already become a favorite of children and families. "We wanted a very significant vertical element that could be seen from other areas of the site and that would attract the children there," explains Parisi, Managing Director of MPFP and the lead designer of the Garvies Point project. "We didn't want to hide the playground. "The playground is located directly on a large lawn and overlooks the adjacent promenade to Glen Cove Creek. Behind it is a forest. The collection of residential buildings in the area conveys the feeling of a village." </p> <p>The Garvies Point Playground, part of the planned development of Garvies Point, was always intended to be something unique.</p> <p>"We wanted to do something different," recalls Parisi. The design team did not want another typical urban playground with its predictable collection of swings, slides, and climbing frames. "We specifically looked to European manufacturers for something that looks like a tower, that feels more original... That was our goal." </p> <p>The team not only found exactly the right tower, but also discovered a variety of creatively designed equipment that realized their vision for the playground. In collaboration with Goric Playgrounds to customize and create the technical specifications, the team selected the components, decided on the arrangement, and created work plans and renderings of what the site would look like after construction. </p> <p>"Goric is one of the best distributors I have ever worked with," said Shawn Partin, who led the development of the playground.</p> <p>"They were not only very knowledgeable and delivered everything I wanted, they delivered all the details and CAD, they delivered 3D, they delivered all the cut parts. They helped me understand which parts of the product I can customize with different colors so that I can achieve the aesthetics that MPFP and Garvies were aiming for."</p> <p>Getting the details exactly right was even more critical for the Garvies Point project than for many other similar developments. As early as the 1980s, city officials had the intention of redeveloping the former industrial site. Years of remediation made the community suspicious, not to mention another proposal, when RXR Realty received planning permission in 2014. It would take a few more years for the legal challenges to be resolved and for the first sod to be turned for the $1.3 billion mixed-use project. </p> <p>Goric and Kaiser & Kühne "designed concepts that were very similar to some of the towers and playground equipment that we had designed years ago," observed Parisi. "And we were basically able to get them compliant with government standards. They complied with the guidelines, met the requirements, and we didn't have to hire specialist vendors to build them." </p> <p>"We had always told all the people (in the community and those involved in the project) and the members of the planning committee that this playground would be something special," he says. "That's what led us to Goric and Kaiser & Kühne." </p> <p>Preparing the presentation of the playground to the community and the planning committee was particularly critical due to the history of the project and the promises that the planning team made to the public and to themselves.</p> <p>When it was time to prepare the construction documents, Goric was on hand. Partin, who became part of the MPFP team in 2015 when he joined the firm, says that Goric was closely involved in the construction of the playground and expedited the approvals. </p> <p>On a sunny, warm May day last month, the Garvies Point Playground was inaugurated. Parents and children – many children – the contractor, members of the city council, the mayor and others gathered for the ceremonial cutting of the red ribbon. Within minutes, the children were balancing, spinning in the moon carousel, and, above all, climbing the dolphin tower to slide down the tunnel slide. </p> <p>The tower and its magical slide have become the hallmark of the entire playground. And that's exactly what Parisi and his team wanted. "That's what drove us, yes, exactly. We were on our own tower." </p> <p>Written and published by: Goric Marketing Group USA, Inc.<br /> https://goric.com/gorics-towering-pyramid-gives-garvies-point-a-signature-playground/</p>