The Vale of Cashmere– a remote, 8-acre area of Possibility Park called after a Thomas Moore poem– has actually for decades been a sanctuary for bird watchers and a widely known travelling spot for Brooklyn’s LGBTQIA+ neighborhood.
Documentary photographer Thomas Roma, in 2015, launched an exhibit and accompanying book, In the Vale of Cashmere, which highlighted the remote milieu’s location in queer history.
The New York City Parks Department, NYCEDC, and Possibility Park Alliance broke ground yesterday on a $37.5 million overhaul of the Vale. The remediation job is led by the Prospect Park Alliance’s internal team of architects and landscape designers.
The initiative concentrates on historical areas within the Vale: the Kid’s Pool, a previous rose garden, and 3-acres of woodland; the latter’s repair will sew together a pollinator corridor that runs through Prospect Park.
Historical architectural features created by McKim, Mead and White will be reconstructed.(Courtesy Possibility Park Alliance )The Children’s Swimming pool dates back to the 19th century and was created by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. McKim, Mead and White later included official aspects such as a marble balustrade to the pool.