North Bergen wants to make improvements to a park in the southern portion of the township. But first it needs to secure funding.
The township’s Board of Commissioners has approved two resolutions applying for a grant from the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund for renovations to 46th Street Park. The park is located at 1223 46th Street, across from the Grove Church Cemetery.
The park is currently home to a playground, a basketball court, a baseball field, and a pedestrian walkway surrounding the baseball field as well as other amenities. The township is seeking to completely modernize the park and ball fields, akin to recent renovations at Policeman’s Memorial Park at 1455 Union Turnpike and the opening of the new park at 1811 Paterson Plank Road.
For the park area, the township is looking to: put in new playground equipment; resurface the basketball courts and outfit them with new backboards and rims; install new sheltered park benches; create an expanded splash park; repave the pedestrian walkway; repave the parking lot and add new spaces; install a trench system for draining; renovate the restrooms and storage building; relocate the dog run; create a new regular seating area; install new fencing; repair the existing staircase; and install new in-ground trash receptacles throughout the park.
For the ball field area, the North Bergen is seeking to: install synthetic turf for both baseball and softball that includes a synthetic shock absorption for safety; put in a drainage system; replace the light fixtures and fencing; install a press box, covered bleachers, an on-field ball pens and new dugouts.
There are no renderings or plan specifics yet, as the township seeks to first secure financing for the project. The board approved the township’s submission of two separate applications, for both park and ball field upgrades, at its Dec. 8 meeting.
Essential grant funding
After the meeting, Chief Financial Officer Robert Pittfield told the Hudson Reporter that the township had been looking to renovate the park for some time. The grant funding is necessary to bring the projection to fruition. Part of the cost has to do with the site’s terrain.
“Estimates are in at about four million or so for the outstanding grade renovations,” Pittfield said.
The park must be graded, meaning the topography must be fixed, as part of the planned upgrades. The grant funds would cover the cost of both the grading and the other proposed improvements.
As the township awaits to hear back from the county regarding approval for the project, it is continuing to look for other sources to fund it. This isn’t the first grant the township has applied to in regards to the project; previously, it applied for a state grant through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres program for the project to no avail.
“Unfortunately we weren’t on their award list,” he said. “So we’re applying for a Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund grant and looking at other sources of funding as well.”
Meanwhile, the township is also conducting the second phase of the renovations to 10th Street Park. Additionally, the new Community Center and Library is currently under construction but nearing completion at 2123 Kennedy Boulevard.
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at disrael@hudsonreporter.com.
