By Carey Dunne

In his speech at a recent groundbreaking ceremony at Harris Park, Bronx Parks Commissioner Hector Aponte braced the audience for change.

“It’s a long time coming, but take a look around, because what you see will soon be unrecognizable,” Aponte said.

Aponte was referring to the mounds of dirt and tractors that cover most of Harris Park, which is now being refurbished with six new ball fields.

A project of the Parks Department during what the agency is calling the city’s largest construction period since the 1930s, Harris Park will also receive two new playgrounds, three new disability-accessible staircases, and a track with a misting station.

The construction is funded with $9 million of a $200 million investment in Bronx parks, courtesy of mitigation funds from the construction of the Croton Water Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park. The Parks Department said it expects to complete the Harris Park renovations by spring 2009, in time for baseball season.

At the groundbreaking on Aug. 6, Assemblyman Jose Rivera, who was instrumental in securing funds for the parks in the filtration plant deal (which he and other local lawmakers were also criticized for), called youngsters from the audience to put on hardhats and grab shovels for the official groundbreaking along with Councilman Oliver Koppell, Aponte, and himself. They dug in and flung soil into the air, yelling “Hip hip hooray!”

“I’m very happy that they’re making this park for the kids so they can have a safe place to play and enjoy the summer instead of being out in the streets,” said Ramona Serrano, whose kids Nikolas and Cristal Rivera wore baseball uniforms at the ceremony.

“Thousands and thousands of people will appreciate the renovation of this park for generations to come,” Koppell said.