Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Council Member Elizabeth Crowley gathered last Thursday, December 1 to cut the green ribbon on the second phase of improvements to Maspeth’s beloved Juniper Park. Children from the Learning Tree School huddled around the city officials as they presented the wet land-themed, eco-friendly design at the western section of Juniper South Playground.

“One of the things we tried to do is take care of the planet and the environment,” said Benepe who explained that the aesthetic used to create the playground derived from the fact that in 1915 Juniper Park was originally Juniper Valley Swamp.

“This park really captures the history of what was once here,” said Crowley, who also discussed the accessible play equipment added to the park and noted that the park was created to better suit the environment.

“When it rains, surfaces will absorb the rain, they are not going into the sewer and clogging up the septic,” she added.

The new playground which now includes two slides, a sitting area, climbing equipment and a spray shower, which will go off during the summer months, was designed to look like a pond and was created with $750,000 which Marshall allocated.

The showerheads at the park are shaped as cattails and depict Mallards ducks swimming in water.

On one of the showerheads also lies a giant dragonfly, which was placed in the park to remind park attendees of what Juniper Valley Park originally was.