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Willow Lake will reopen to the public within the next few years, according to the head of the New York City Dept. of Parks and Recreation.

In an exclusive interview with the Queens Tribune, Commissioner Adrian Benepe laid out the department’s intentions for Willow Lake.

Located in the southern portion of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the area has been closed to the public since 2000. Once an extensive recreational site for walkers and joggers, Willow Lake has since been closed off at access points over both the Van Wyck Expressway and Grand Central Parkway.

Benepe said that $1.2 million has been put aside in the capital budget to reconstruct Willow Lake Bridge, which was burned by vandals in 2000. Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation defaulted a contractor who was to reconstruct the bridge, and is currently negotiating a contract with the second highest bidder to repair the bridge. A $1.1 million grant from New York State will also be used in the lake’s restoration, and it is possible that a grant for habitat restoration in Meadow Lake could be transferred to Willow Lake. Benepe estimated that overall costs for the area will be between $3-4 million.

“The plan is to restore the area and reopen it to the public, possibly on an interim basis,” Benepe said. “I think we’ll get these things done over the next few years. The full restoration of the bridge, no matter who does it, is probably a couple of years away.

“The reason the area is closed off is because effectively, without the bridge, you have a cul-de-sac. You’re sort of stuck in no man’s land once you get into the park.”

Former Queens Borough Commissioner Richard Murphy confirmed that the bridge was closed in 2000. “In the spring of 2000, when that bridge burned, that was the end of non-guided tours in Willow Lake,” Murphy said.

Benepe said the Parks Department will either allow the DOT to continue work on the bridge, or if need be, do it on their own through their own funding. The bridge may be built at smaller dimensions because it is not a vehicular bridge, he said.

The Parks Department is also going to see if there is any possibility that temporary repairs could be made to allow public use before completion. Benepe said that the supporting structures may be in better shape than the top planks, and if the engineers determine that the support is salvageable, a temporary wooden bridge could be built.

In the near future, the department will also present City Council Environmental Committee Chairman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) with a list of park restoration items that could be funded with a capital allocation for the fiscal year 2008 budget, something Gennaro has expressed a willingness to do in the past.

Benepe said that the best way to remove invasive Phragmites, which has been a problem in Willow Lake, is by physically removing it from the ground. Herbicides and pesticides, Benepe said, would not be used because the area is a protected wetland.

Some park advocacy groups have expressed a need to allow limited access to the park when it is reopened, preventing future acts of vandalism. “This is a conundrum we face in parks across the city; it’s not the only place we have difficulty policing,” Benepe said. “A likely scenario is to see if the bridge can be constructed with steel. On the other hand, if we look at history, all parks are badly vandalized.”

Benepe said that Willow Lake’s restoration was included in the plans for the 2012 Olympics, and after those plans fell through, the restoration was stymied.

“That’s why the job didn’t get done sooner; it should have been done sooner,” Benepe said. “Certainly, the Parks Department should have kept its eye on the ball on this project when it didn’t move for a couple of years.”