The Parks Department will begin replacing the track and field in Williamsbridge Oval Park this month.  

The work kicks off a $13.5 million dollar renovation plan fueled by monies generated by the political deal that allowed the city to build a controversial water filtration plant in nearby Van Cortlandt Park.

The $3 million track will take a year to complete and will feature a rubberized track, and a synthetic turf multi-purpose sports field.

The second phase – which will include replacement of the southern playground and basketball courts, renovation of the southern half of the upper promenade, and the introduction of a new senior seating area in the northern section of the park, will go to bid this fall and start construction next spring, according to the Parks Department. The work, which will cost about $6 million, is slated for completion in summer 2009.

A third phase costing $4.5 million will tackle renovation of a portion of the Recreation Building (known as the Park House). Park officials say this project, too, is scheduled to go to bid this fall with the goal of construction beginning next spring and ending in summer 2009.

The original document that delineated the Bronx park projects to be completed in return for building the filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park indicated that the Oval’s decrepit perimeter fence would also be replaced and that there would also be a skate park and multi-use recreations. But all the park projects were eventually cut across the board by 7 percent because the total went over the $200 million allocated for the improvements.