HOBOKEN AND WEEHAWKEN — Soil remediation at a long-vacant patch of land 1600 Park Ave. in Hoboken, the proposed site of a future public park, has begun.
Community Development Director Brandy Forbes said Tuesday that the DEP-approved remediation of contaminated soil will be completed by the end of July. The process includes encapsulating the hazardous soil with a new layer of topsoil.
The city will be taking bids beginning next Tuesday for the remediation of another future public amenity, Hoboken Cove, which is adjacent to 1600 Park along the waterfront.
Over the summer, the city will hire an engineering or landscape architecture firm to handle the design of both parks.
And in the fall, the city will hold public meetings to decide the design and programming of the entire uptown area.
In addition, the ARC Trans-Hudson Tunnel will be boring 150 feet beneath the site, Forbes said, and the city will hold a public hearing on the tunnel project on June 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Multiservice Center.
The 1600 Park site has a storied history. At one point, it was slated to be the site of a large residential development, but then the city of Hoboken got grants to buy it from the developers.
The plot of land also contains — on a corner that the city for an unexplained reason never bought — a unique house built two years ago Hoboken-based developer Mark Settembre. — TJC