In 1986, Thomas Balsley Associates was asked by the Chelsea Waterside Park Association to translate this community’s vision for a waterfront park into a design document that would be used to plan the new Route 9-A and the proposed Hudson River Park. Ten years later, when funding for the Chelsea Waterside Park was identified, Thomas Balsley Associates won an invited design competition and the 2.5-acre park was completed in the fall of 2000. Chelsea Waterside Park became a cherished community space and the first jewel in the Hudson River Park “necklace.”
The design takes into account Chelsea’s multiple open space and recreational needs and its diverse community. All are expressed in a contemporary design language of curving forms and color that is balanced with lush plantings and historically derived rugged stone detailing for walls and pavements.
Today, the park is home to round-the-clock activity, lawns and green spaces for passive uses like sunning and picnicking, multi-purpose sports fields and court games, shade structures, an interactive water play area, Chelsea’s only public horticultural displays, elevated sunset overlook, food concession structure with restrooms and cafe terrace, and a “state of the art” adventure dog run.
Naftzger Park
Naftzger Park offers a contemporary and communal gathering space in downtown Wichita with enough variety to appeal to everyone. Designed to activate an area of town between Old Town and a burgeoning new entertainment district, the park is at once an urban foye...
Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park
Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park was envisioned as an international model of urban ecology and a world laboratory for innovative sustainable thinking. The project is a collaboration between Thomas Balsley Associates and WEISS/MANFREDI for the open space and park design with ARUP as the prime consultant and infrastructure designer.
What was once a ba...
Grand Candela Memorial
The “Grand Candela” commemorates the victims and survivors of the August 2019 mass shooting tragedy at Walmart’s Cielo Vista store. Inspired by the motif of an everlasting candle and set in a plaza within the store’s parking lot, the memorial offers a dedicated place of healing and remembrance. Twenty-two columns of perforated metal, one for each life lost, ar...
Bensonhurst Park
Bensonhurst Park is part of the larger Shore Parkway, an 816.1-acre collection of parks that stretches across Brooklyn and Queens. Today, the site provides a series of pathways, passive seating areas, recreational fields and a playground.
SWA/Balsley created a master plan for the redesign of the north end of the park and final design and construction do...