The designs for the park, presented at a Community Board 2 meeting last week, were well received, although several L.I.C. residents voiced concerns about the city’s plans to cover the park’s largest open area with artificial turf, and others pressed planners to include a community boathouse in the plans.
   The park, like the development as a whole, will be constructed in phases, starting at the north end by 50th Avenue and eventually expanding southward to Newtown Creek.
   The northern part of the park, called the grove because of the leafy canopy of trees that will one day shade it, will include a dog run, play areas for toddlers and adolescents and multi-purpose courts.
   An oval-shaped green will provide a large open space for sports, picnicking and general community use, and a pavilion at the green’s southern end will house concessions, rest rooms and a waiting area for the water taxi.
   Those components, along with two new residential buildings and a school, are expected to be completed in 2013.
   In an effort to commemorate L.I.C.’s history, the old Port Authority pier will be rehabilitated and adorned with seating, and an elevated beach will take up the area near the water taxi landing.
   In the middle section of the park, a small, egg-shaped peninsula will provide additional picnic and walking areas, and at the southern end an area called the promontory will serve as the park’s quietest area, with protected marsh grasses, tri-borough vistas and small, waterfront foot paths. The major waterfront promenade will also culminate there, ending in a cantilevered platform overlooking the East River.
   The promontory’s steep topography, rising to 40 feet above the level of the river, prompted planners to include a series of terraces along the hillside, which will feature adult fitness equipment.
   The part of the park flanking Newtown Creek will have a ramp for launching kayaks and canoes, which will be accessible from 2nd Street.
   “It’s all being envisioned as both an active park, a passive park and an eco-friendly park,” said Christian Gabriel, one of the landscape architects working on the project.
   L.I.C. residents seem to welcome new parkland, but several expressed concern about the plans to use artificial turf on the green. Some said they fear health risks associated with certain types of synthetic grass; some voiced fears the turf could become unpleasantly hot in the summer; and others said it could be a nightmare to keep clean and might quickly end up covered in seagull feces.
   Joe Conley, chairman of C.B. 2 said the board has already made it clear to the city that its members would prefer real grass.
   According to Charles McKinney, chief of design for the Parks Department, artificial turf would be easier to maintain than real grass, especially with the high-impact sports activities that are expected to take place on the green. McKinney added that synthetic turf provides softer footing than packed earth, which could be attractive to athletes, and said park employees would make sure the turf is kept clean.
   The other main suggestion that came up at last Thursday’s meeting was to add a building where canoes, kayaks, rowing shells and other similar boats could be stored.
   Sports like kayaking and rowing are gaining popularity in L.I.C., but places to launch and store the rigs are scarce.
   The Long Island City Community Boathouse offers free kayaking in the summer but has to store its 20 boats in an old meat locker two miles away from the beach where people gather.
   “I’ve been lobbying for years for 2nd Street to be a boat launch,” said Erik Baard, founder of the LICCB. Baard proposed constructing a “boat hill,” or storage facility built into the hillside, which he said would preserve the natural look of the park area and be a boon to the boating community.
   “Residents of this community should be able to directly connect to the river,” said another area resident, who likes to row. She said storage spaces for rowing shells are impractical if they’re far away from launch points.“You need to be on the water, because the white-hull rigs weigh 500 pounds,” she explained.
   Baard and others also advocated keeping a “soft” shoreline wherever possible in the park, using sand instead of bulkheads to keep the area more natural-looking and to make the shore easier to maintain.
   It is unclear how much sway residents’ suggestions will have in determining the final park designs. C.B. 2 will vote on the plans in December, and based on the board’s recommendations, city officials could alter the designs.
   The development project as a whole has already been approved, though. Five thousand apartments will be created, 3,000 of which will be set aside as affordable housing. The complex will also include a school, various shops and a network of pedestrian walkways and bike paths.
   The city bought the property from the state this past summer but has been generating ideas for the development since 2006, when Mayor Mike Bloomberg first expressed interest in purchasing the land and undertaking a large-scale middle-income housing project.