High above street level in Manhattan's meat packing district stands an unused railroad track, blocking the city's skyscrapers. The High Line, a 22-block railway bridge, has been shut down since 1980, serving only as a relic of industrial days long since past.

Originally designed and built in 1929 to raise commercial trains above 10th Avenue, the High Line is being revamped by Field Operations to become a public promenade.

This week, in collaboration with engineers and environmental scientists, Field Operations is submitting construction plans, moving the city-sponsored project into the final phase of construction.

But it hasn’t always been this busy at the High Line. For decades the structure stood useless, an eyesore to local property owners and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who wanted it torn down. But just before the city followed through, local residents took an unexpected liking to the High Line.

As wildflowers began to blossom over the metal tracks, Chelsea artists found inspiration in the raw nature that seemed to be reclaiming what was once a symbol of the city’s industrial infrastructure.

In the early 20th century the railroad built the High Line to make room for horses and pedestrians to safely travel city streets. Now, it has become a point of connection for local residents, who are protecting it against encroaching city bulldozers.

“The High Line was a really concrete reminder of that very important part of our city’s history,” said Joshua David, co-founder of Friends of the High Line, a nonprofit that has defended the High Line from destruction since 1999. “The sense that this was a city of industry, a city of industrial transportation where ocean liners and ships were moving goods and people were making goods and all of the unique creative energy that comes from industry that has largely vanished from the West Side of Manhattan.”

For the last seven years Friends of the High Line have promoted a new vision for the abandoned railroad. And after several legal battles and two mayoral administrations they have reached an agreement to turn the High Line into an open public space offering inimitable views of Manhattan. With a new design in place, the High Line will become a 1.45-mile-long city park. Running from 34th Street to Gansevoort on the West Side of Manhattan, it will provide 6.7 acres of green space for residents to gather.

Field Operations, in collaboration with Diller, Scofidio and Renfro, won the 2004 international design competition and has designed the new park with the intention of amplifying the postindustrial characteristics of the melancholic structure.

The High Line has become the impetus for a re-imagined West Side, with new buildings and museums welcomed by the very property owners who once wanted the structure torn down.

With the first phase of construction reaching an end, anticipation surrounds the completion of the High Line by the end of 2008, which is set to become “a great gathering place for people in this neighborhood and all around the city,” David said.