A popular Irish sport will soon have a new home field in Queens.
Local elected officials joined Shannon Gaels, an athletic association, to celebrate the start of a $1.6 million reconstruction of the field in Frank Golden Park on Monday.
The reconstruction has three phases that will turn the field into a state-of-the-art field for Gaelic football.
The sport is number 1 in Ireland and is played by two teams of fifteen.
Money for the project was raised through Shannon Gael's Field of Dreams campaign.
"There is a population here in College Point that play and they embrace this, so that the youth that play here are not only from local College Point , but they travel from across the borough to come here now," said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski.
"This will bring a huge, huge Irish spirit to Queens, but it's a lot bigger than just the Irish community. A lot bigger than just Irish heritage. This is a facility that everybody in Queens can be proud of," said Sean Price, the Chairman of Shannon Gaels GAA
A practice field is expected to available for use by the end of phase one, which is scheduled to be completed by the Spring of 2016.