The defunct bocce court at Astoria Park will reach a new milestone next Saturday. Plus, the Astoria Park Alliance will double its fundraising goal after it reached its goal in a few days. NY1's Van Tieu filed the following report.
It looks like a box of snow now, but once it melts the old Astoria Park bocce court underneath will see a new life.
Since Fall 2016 volunteers with the Astoria Park Alliance have been working on resurrecting the court which fell into disrepair- to the point of being unusable.
"It’s sitting here really close to the river and at the bottom of a hill, so drainage has always been an issue for this court," explains board member, Anthony Liberatoscioli.
Volunteers already dug out and replaced drainage ditches, and on Saturday, March 25th,they'll reach another milestone. From 10a-4p, volunteers will spread out clay for the playing surface.
"Now it’s going to get a real true surface that is meant for bocce and we’ll be able to maintain durability throughout all the elements," says Doug Monaco, marketing manager for APA.
All of those materials cost money. The APA had an online fundraiser with a goal of $1500 dollars. It was met within days. The group will now double that goal to add even more features to the court.
"Now we’ve set our goals a little higher and we’re going to try to install a scoreboard as well as rules of the game," says Liberatoscioli.
The APA say they're proud so many community members are supporting the court's restoration.
"[With] bocce being such a welcoming game that’s been around for so long, we really think that it’s a great opportunity for older generations to merge with younger generations and perhaps teach younger generations about this history of Astoria and Astoria Park. "
The Bocce court will have its grand opening reveal on April 22nd during the Astoria Park Alliance' Earth Day Shore Fest in Astoria Park.
To learn more about its fundraiser, visit: https://www.ioby.org/project/help-install-new-playing-surface-astoria-park-bocce-court