By Dennis Holt
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — “I took this job to build Brooklyn Bridge Park,� was the forceful comment by Regina Myer, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, as she announced the first construction contract to be awarded for the stretch of piers that lies south of the bridge.

After a board of directors meeting, it was disclosed that Skanska USA Inc., a firm that already has done a lot of demolition work on the park site, will be awarded $47 million to develop Pier 1 and the entrance at Old Fulton Street.

This first phase of construction, scheduled to begin in November, will include about 1,300 feet of promenade along the East River and 2.5 acres of lawn with stunning views of the harbor, the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan.

Also included in this phase will be the first portion of the Brooklyn Greenway, to be a borough-wide bikeway network. Pier 1 will have about 700 trees, water gardens and a playground at the northwestern edge of the pier.

The design of the Pier 1 element will include a number of sustainable initiatives such as underground water storage tanks, as well as a series of “river steps� overlooking the harbor. These steps will be constructed from salvaged granite taken from the Roosevelt Island Bridge.

When all this work is completed, by the end of 2009, 9.5 acres of new park will have been added to the existing DUMBO parts of the new park.

Myer, who used to be head of the Brooklyn Office of the City Planning Department, said, “We are thrilled that the construction of Brooklyn Bridge Park will begin this year.�

Eventually, the waterfront park, projected to be a major city tourist attraction, will stretch 1.3 miles from south of Atlantic Avenue to north of the Manhattan Bridge and will consist of 85 acres.

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