Big park for Bergen-Lafayette

Friday, May 18, 2007
By RONALD LEIR
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

An ambitious Jersey City park project that's been talked about for seven years got a big boost yesterday when Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise said his administration is recommending spending $3.2 million from the Open Space Trust to acquire the last 5.6 acres needed for the 13.6-acre Bergen-Lafayette tract.

Berry Lane Park, which would be roughly the same size as Pershing Field in the Heights, would be the biggest park developed in the city in a century. There are no city ballfields anywhere in the area.

Still, many hurdles must be overcome.

"The goal is to have it completed in three years," said Project Manager Ben Delisle of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, which is assembling the land and building the park. "We're making it a high priority in this office."

The JCRA must buy out two remaining property owners, finance an environmental cleanup plan for the site, relocate residents and businesses - mostly junkyards and auto shops - on the property and find the cash for the actual construction, expected to be between $8 and $10 million.

But JCRA Executive Director Robert Antonicello is hoping the agency can begin getting mandated public input by summer and that cleanup work can start by fall.

Councilwoman Viola Richardson, who represents Ward F, said that while the project would be "a big plus" for the ward, there are existing recreation facilities in the Hill area that need attention now, including Arlington Park, Oak Street Park, Ercel Webb Park and the defunct Bergen Avenue YMCA pool and Harmon Street pool, off Communipaw Avenue.

"Those are not priorities," Richardson said.

DeGise will ask the Hudson County Board of Freeholders to earmark the money when it meets at 1 p.m. next Thursday. He'll also recommend other appropriations for Bayonne, Kearny, Secaucus, Guttenberg, Weehawken and West New York.

Delisle said the JCRA has voted to hire the Jersey City architectural firm of Dresdner Robin, in partnership with Robert Marvel Architects of New York, to design the park, which would sit between Garfield and Woodward avenues, north of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System tracks up to the foot of Berry Lane off Communipaw.

Delisle said the biggest chunk of the site - old railroad yards - was purchased from Conrail for $660,000 in 1999.

Delisle said the JCRA has had appraisals done for the remaining five acres and if the agency can't settle on a price with the owners, it will take the land through eminent domain.