By Ian Koski
Managing Editor

The first step is reopening the park. The second step is reopening the bridge. So says Bronx Parks Commissioner Bill Castro, who was on hand last week for the ribbon-cutting of the newly renovated Highbridge Park.

The park, which sits on the Bronx side of the High Bridge, underwent a $739,000 reconstruction designed to evoke the historical significance of the bridge. A stone veneer wall was built, as were steps with handrails, and steel bar fencing. Colored concrete pavement was laid underneath a new seating area, benches and game tables.

Below the park's ground is the old Croton Aqueduct, which brought water down from Westchester County and across the High Bride into Manhattan from 1842 to 1958. The architect for the Parks Department, Ricardo Hinkle, said he designed the new park to follow the aqueduct's path. Steps were built up to the foot of the bridge, which has been closed to pedestrian traffic for the last 32 years.