This Week’s
Construction
Update
Over the past week,
work at the site has been focused on the west
playground, where a new retaining wall is under
construction inside of the existing ashlar
wall. The retaining wall will provide
structural support for new trees, shrubs and
flowers that will encircle children at play in the
new and expanded playground. Simultaneously, crews
have been hard at work completing the relocation
of telephone ducts from beneath the west
playground.
While work in the
playground area continues, construction workers
have begun the important process of rebuilding the
structural underpinning of the Pavilion basement
floor to support a sublevel for elevator and
mechanical equipment. The elevator is being
installed to provide ADA access to all levels of
the Pavilion.
Rock excavation was
temporarily halted last week while excavation
equipment underwent repairs. As the
excavation process progressed to deeper levels
below ground, workers found the bedrock to be
harder than initially sampled and so more durable
rock hammers were needed to complete the
job. We will keep you posted on excavation
progress as it unfolds.
.
Question of the
Week
Question: Will
new trees be planted as part of the North End
Project?
Answer: Yes,
more than 50 new trees will thrive in the north
end of Union Square Park once construction is
complete.
New Japanese Pagoda
trees along the north and west edges of the plaza
will extend the lush greenery of Union Square Park
to its outermost edges. Planted at 20 feet
(the lowest branching at 12 feet) and reaching a
maximum height of 40 feet, the trees will enhance
the plaza experience along 17th Street and Union
Square West without competing with the scale of
the buildings that surround the
square.
New trees in the
playground area will also provide a variety of
color, texture and shade to the park. Large
evergreen trees such as Hinoki False Cypress
trees, as well as deciduous trees such as Northern
Catalpa, Golden Raintree and Dawn Redwood will
surround the playground at taller heights,
complemented by smaller flowering trees such as
Smoketrees and Saucer
Magnolias.
