The downtown Jersey City waterfront is one of the most coveted areas for developers and businesses in New Jersey. But the residents want to make sure enough land is preserved for a park.
Dr. Barbara Betro, a chiropractor with an office on Greene Street and a home nearby, is one of those people. She has had a wonderful view of the Hudson River and New York Harbor for 17 years, but Betro thinks the area can be made even better by developing and connecting several existing parcels of open space that look out at the water.
“It couldn’t be more unique, and this area packs such a punch,” she said.
Betro has been on the board of the Jersey City Waterfront Parks Conservancy since it was founded in 2007. The conservancy’s mission is to create one continuous park from several disparate park areas in the Paulus Hook section, specifically Veterans Park, Colgate Park, Peninsula Park, the southernmost end of Washington Street, and several smaller pieces of land.
To reach that end, the group has been meeting weekly and has vetted 14 architectural firms to come up with a conceptual master plan for a new park.
They also have been raising private money and seeking grants from the state’s Green Acres program. Creating a waterfront park from the smaller open space parcels could cost $25 to $30 million.
The next step is presenting a conceptual master plan for the park, which the group will do at a public meeting this Tuesday, March 24, at 7 p.m. in the east lobby of Portside Towers, 155 Washington St.
The public can check out the conservancy’s website, http://www.jcwpc.org, or e-mail: connecttheparks@gmail.com, for more information.
Unity in the community
Matthew Johnson, a Paulus Hook resident since 2003, is reminded every day of the idea of bringing a park to his Paulus Hook neighborhood, not only as president of the Jersey City Waterfront Parks Conservancy, but also as the father of two children.
“It’s just such a wonderful place to live and raise a family, and the views are tremendous,” Johnson said. “But the neighborhood need more open space for kids to play and dogs to run around.”
Johnson was hooked at the first community meeting on the proposed park after hearing a presentation by Bill Gray, owner of the Lighthorse Tavern on nearby Washington Street. Since then, the conservancy board has met weekly. They have incorporated their group into a 501©3 non-profit entity, and held community fundraisers and meetings to gauge support and solicit input.
The reason for wanting so much input is that in order for the park to happen, the group has to get cooperation from city, state, county, and private entities that already own land there.
The state has considered plans to develop some of the open space in the area. In the past, they have considered spending $15 million to build out a section of the 18-mile Hudson River Waterfront Walkway that would run through the proposed park area. The state has also considered creating a new Veterans’ Park that the conservancy would like to incorporate into their plans.
Lots of work
Tuesday’s initial master plan will be the culmination of the group’s selection process; fourteen top-flight architectural firms from across the country were invited to submit design proposals, with Starr Whitehouse and nArchitects as the chosen firms who designed the plan.
Besides showing where a bridge and other amenities would go, the group will also discuss practical structures, such as retaining walls along the shorefront to stop the ongoing erosion that Johnson has documented in photos.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.