Governors Island public projects to break ground early next year

Starting early in 2012, the city’s plans to invest more than $300 million to jump-start the transformation of Governors Island will come to fruition as workers break ground on the first phase of a major redevelopment of the 172-acre landmass, DNAinfo reported.

Projects scheduled to open by the end of 2013 include a new 14-acre play lawn, a refurbished 12-acre parade ground, a 10-acre hammock grove and an overhauled 6-acre Liggett Terrace, a gathering space with maze-like hedges, DNAinfo said. Repairs will also be made to buildings in the 92-acre historic district.

It’s a very exciting time on Governors Island,” said Leslie Koch, president of the Trust for Governors Island.

Despite all the public projects underway on the island however, private investment may still be some way off, noted Simon Bertrang, the trust’s vice president of planning. While New York University expressed some interest in building an urban studies campus on the island last year, schools proposing campuses for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s recent competition for a new technology campus have been more interested in Roosevelt Island and Brooklyn. [DNAinfo]