So, what might "Ventilation Structures in Open Space" mean? Well, previously there was only one "lantern/exhaust"

I wrote 7/11/19 about several proposed changes to Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, which will be explained--rather than revealed beforehand, allowing some assessment--at the Quality of Life meeting this Tuesday.

They will then likely proceed to boilerplate endorsement by the advisory (but gubernatorially-controlled) Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC) and then the gubernatorially-controlled Empire State Development (ESD).

Yesterday, I took a second look at what the "Reduction of the Open Space North-South Walkway Width" might mean. Today, let's look at the even more enigmatic "Ventilation Structures in Open Space."

The general open space concept plan, by Thomas Balsley (below), shows there's already supposed to be one element, a "lantern" (more on that below), that serves as an exhaust. See #20, as annotated, at the northwest intersection of Carlton Avenue and Pacific Street, within the railyard.

But "Ventilation Structures" indicates at least two.

What's a "lantern"?

At a 2015 public presentation, Balsley said designers have "proposed a series of what we call urban lanterns," structures like shelters or gazebos that can be used as a kiosks or to house ventilation for the platform over the railyard below.

"Some can incorporate ventilation devices but look like these wonderful pieces of 'parkitecture,'" he said.

How many vent stacks would there be, and how large? Officials didn't know. "Everything is a placeholder until we actually get real information from the Long Island Rail Road," Forest City executive Jane Marshall said.

Balsley's use of the plural suggested there would be multiple "ventilation devices," but the schematic released in 2015  showed only one. Now, likely there would be more, perhaps adding to the total number of "lanterns" (see schematic below) or perhaps substituting for lanterns previously planned as a shelter or food kiosk.

What's in the Design Guidelines?

There's no mention of ventilation in the project's 2006 Design Guidelines, though a single "maintenance enclosure" was permitted:

Developer shall be entitled to locate a maintenance enclosure of not more than 150 square feet within the publicly accessible open space to accommodate equipment and materials required for or used in maintaining the publicly accessible open space

So they may be aiming to amend the Design Guidelines to specifically acknowledge ventilation and to allow multiple structures. Presumably they'll say it's necessary for the project to function. But the question is: why didn't they come clean earlier?

From the open space plan

Pacific Park Open Space Des... by on Scribd