Dinosaur Park To Get $3M Bathroom Renovation, but Work Will Take Over Two Years

The much delayed reconstruction of the beloved Dinosaur Park playground in Riverside Park just landed another $3 million in order to incorporate restroom redesign into the park’s overall renovation. This pushes the total price tag for repairs and renovations to over $10 million.

While the Riverside Conservancy has created a newly renovated 97th street park entrance, work on the main park has been delayed. A combination of state and parks department funds have been earmarked for the restroom renovation project.

Parents with kids who use the cherished playground may have to wait a bit longer for the new amenities. The timeline calls for procurement to take the next 9 months to a year. Actual construction will still have to take another 12 to 18 months after that. Dinosaur Playground is still open with an expected closure in the future. That means the timeline for completion is anywhere from 21 months to 2 1/2 years for the bathrooms alone.

A press release from the Riverside Park Conservancy states that renovations are desperately needed. The building now has “deteriorated interiors, rusted doors and partitions, outdated fixtures, poor lighting, damaged ceilings and accessibility issues.”

The funding push comes from Council Member Brewer and Riverside Park as they have both called for funding for a renovation of the bathrooms across all of Riverside Park. Governor Kathy Hochul in her statement said, “When governments invest in our parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities, we are investing in our children’s health and future.”

Assembly Member Micah Lasher said, “public restrooms are basic infrastructure, and families at Dinosaur Playground have made do with deteriorating facilities for far too long.”

In 2024, Straus News reported that the park received $8.6 million in funding to update the park’s drainage system and replace the dinosaurs with new and improved versions that kids would love. The Riverside Park Conservancy also added new swings.

One of the major issues that the Riverside Park Conservancy faces is how flood prone the park is. Their website states, “drainage is a major challenge in Riverside Park. Originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and expanded under Robert Moses in the mid-1930s, the park’s river-facing slope and 90-year-old infrastructure—plus a paved perimeter that channels street runoff—create heavy surface water, now intensified by extreme storms.”

Some construction has already been completed at 97th street including “a separate renovation of the West 97th street entrance, stairs, an accessible ramp and improved circulation.”

It is a segment of the larger Riverside Park Drainage System Reconstruction Project that aims to add wet meadows and retaining walls in order to fix the park’s drainage system. The West Side Rag recently spoke to frustrated residents in Riverside Park who complained about the significant delays and said, “I just hope it’s done in my lifetime.”

With issues like climate change and rising sea levels, the park is working to secure a positive future for residents of the Upper West Side and their children. In addition to continuing construction around 97th street and the Dinosaur Park, the Riverside Conservancy has plans to clear dead tree branches.