The good news is that Frank Principe (Maurice) Park is due for a $5.7M upgrade. The fields will be redone to prevent ponding and provide better drainage. They also will be designed in such a way to allow the construction of a soccer field, which many Maspeth sports teams and residents have been requesting. The bad news is that it likely will cost a whole lot more than is necessary because of the use of contractors and the fact that this was supposed to happen 10 years ago. Parks decided to hire a private planner to design the space instead of using in-house staff. In fact, they have already chosen the contractor but will not reveal who it is. This increases the total cost of the project. On top of that, the park was originally supposed to get this overhaul a decade ago. In 2005, then-Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe announced that it was one of 34 fields to be redone during the 2006-2007 fiscal year using $50M allocated by then-Mayor Bloomberg. However, for whatever reason, the project was not a priority, it was never completed, the money was used elsewhere and now the price is even more inflated. Unfortunately, Principe Park will likely get synthetic turf fields, which are not environmentally friendly, may cause health problems and reach dangerous temperatures in the summer sun which will likely render the fields useless.