The North Bergen Board of Education has decided to scrap all plans of building a new high school inside of North Hudson Braddock Park, and has directed its consulting team not to consider any potential park areas in the future. The official announcement was made by Superintendent of Schools Peter Fischbach at Wednesday night’s Board of Education meeting. “The Board made it clear from the very beginning that the North Hudson Park location would only be considered if a strong community consensus could be built,” Fischbach said. “That has not happened. The fact is that there are almost as many people who oppose the proposed park site as there are those who support it.” A month ago, the Board of Education introduced a plan that would have constructed a new $60 million high school in the northwest corner of the park. Citing overcrowding in all seven of the township’s schools, the board collectively announced that a new high school was the only option and that the best location would be within the confines of North Hudson Braddock Park. The decision was made after receiving approximately 1,000 of the 15,000 surveys that the Board of Education sent out to get a sense of how the community felt about the school being built in the park. Of the surveys returned, 39 percent supported the plan, but 38 percent specifically opposed it. The decision also came on the heels of the board learning that an organization calling itself Save North Hudson County Park had been formed and had collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition opposing the plan. The organization’s president, North Bergen resident Bill McClelland, just officially announced the group’s formation last week and was already actively campaigning against the plan. “There are lot of people in the area who are environmentally aware,” said McClelland, a resident of North Bergen for 20 years and a professional musician. “This is a typical grass-roots effort. People might think that it’s a big park, but it’s not. Then, when you bring in 3,000 people, it would be overwhelming, in terms of traffic, in terms of pollution. They would destroy the park. We have to protect every square foot. We have to keep the park as peaceful as possible at all times.” Now that the plans have been abolished, another member, Pat Keefe, was claiming a victory, but said that the group had no plans to disband just yet. “Initially, we will meet to keep abreast of the situation, but I definitely feel we made a difference and had an influence on their decision,” Keefe said. “It shows what you can do when people band together for a good cause. We’re all very excited about the news.” McClelland said that his group had plans to inform the public through several venues, like a letter-writing campaign, phone calls and fliers. “We had to make as many people as conscious as possible,” McClelland said. “The things that we do seem to work.” Apparently, they do. McClelland was rounding up other local activist groups to get involved in the fight, like the Sierra Club and the Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront. Another member of the Save North Hudson Park group, Pat Keefe, was concerned because she thought the plan to build the new school was not properly thought out. “I don’t think the Board of Education did their homework,” said Keefe, a Union City native who has resided in North Bergen for 11 years. “I think they didn’t look too hard to build this school elsewhere. We need the park space. The town needs someplace else to build the school.” McClelland thought that the township would have been better served if they either built a new school at a different location or made improvements to the current high school at its standing location. “We recognize that the township needs space, but perhaps the Board can look into the possibility of a three or four-story building,” McClelland said. “I would be happy to work with the Board of Education, only after the park plan is taken off the table. They have to consider other options. Nothing is going to be ideal, but the worst idea was in the park.” Keefe also issued concerns because the park is owned by the entire county, not just North Bergen. “The town of North Bergen doesn’t own the park,” Keefe said. “I know of a lot of people in West New York who are more incensed than we are and they wouldn’t even get a school out of it.” “People from West New York, Weehawken, Union City all use the park all the time,” McClelland said. “We couldn’t afford to lose any part of the park. If we did, then eventually, there would be no park left. We’re desperate for it.” After the decision to abandon the park plan was officially announced on Wednesday night, McClelland was out of town on vacation. “I’m not sure if he even knows,” Keefe said. Although the plan to use the park has officially been scrapped, Fischbach has not given up hope of building a new high school. “The fact that the park location is no longer under consideration does not diminish our commitment to effectively address the overcrowding problem,” Fischbach said. However, it’s back to the drawing board – and the residents of the area can rest assured. The park is safe.
Park plan scrapped after negative feedback and community opposition; school board will look elsewhere
