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Contact: Daphne Yun, 718-354-4602
The National Park Service (NPS) is beginning a planning process in support of a project to permanently maintenance operations that were damaged during Hurricane Sandy at Gateway National Recreation Area, Staten Island Unit. The purpose of this project is to make the Staten Island Unit maintenance facilities resilient to coastal storm surges and flooding during relocation to more sustainable locations out of the 100-year floodplain and repurposing and/or reusing some existing facilities to improve the efficiently of park maintenance and recovery operations. This project is necessary because some existing maintenance facilities and equipment at Miller Field were significantly damaged during Hurricane Sandy resulting in loss of functionality. The proposed facilities will provide support to the Gateway maintenance staff and equipment while greatly reducing the potential for substantial damage during future catastrophic coastal storm surge or flood events. Maintenance operations within the Staten Island Unit are divided between three park sites: Fort Wadsworth, Miller Field and Great Kills Park. Generally, maintenance facilities at Fort Wadsworth and Great Kills Park received little to no damage during Hurricane Sandy. At Miller Field, equipment and materials stored in Hangar 38 received substantial flood damage. After the storm, equipment and materials stored in Hangar 38 were relocated to Fort Wadsworth and buildings at Miller Field, which are located outside the 100-year floodplain. A temporary maintenance facility was recently completed at Miller Field in September 2014. This project involves two Staten Island Unit sites: Fort Wadsworth and Miller Field. At Fort Wadsworth, the NPS is evaluating options to repurpose and or/reuse the existing maintenance facility and construction additional storage that will accommodate equipment previously located at Miller Field. Fort Wadsworth is the most sustainable location within the Staten Island Unit and the project boundary is entirely outside the 100-year floodplain. At Miller Field, the NPS is evaluating locations for a new maintenance facility within an area along the northwestern boundary that is outside the 100-year floodplain. As a result of improving the efficiency of the existing Fort Wadsworth maintenance facility, the proposed Miller Field maintenance facility will be appropriately scaled to accommodate only the necessary day-to-day maintenance functions required for Miller Field. The NPS has announced a 30-day public input period, from September 22, 2014, to October 22, 2014, to invite public comments on this proposal. During the public input period, the public is invited to identify any issues or concerns they may have regarding the proposed project. In particular, the National Park Service is seeking input concerning any potential impacts to the surrounding community that may result from this proposed project. As part of the planning process, the NPS will hold a public open house at Fort Wadsworth. The public is encouraged to attend the meeting to learn more about the project. The date, time, and location of the meeting are as follows: Thursday, October 9, 2014 Anyone wishing to comment on the proposed project may submit written comments during this meeting, or you may submit your comments online at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/gate or via U.S. Mail at Office of the Superintendent Comments must be received by October 22, 2014. Only written comments will be accepted.
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Last updated: February 26, 2015