Berry Lane Park

Berry Lane Park is a park created on a 17.5 acres (0.071 km2) of former brownfield site in the Communipaw-Lafayette Section of Jersey City, New Jersey. Construction of the park, which cost $38 million, began in 2012 and the park officially opened in June 2016.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The park is located between Garfield Avenue and Woodward Street near the Garfield Avenue Hudson Bergen Light Rail station. Directly south of Berry Lane Park is Canal Crossing, an adjacent brownfield site slated for a future residential development. The park will be part of the greenway planned along the former route of the Morris Canal.[7]

Berry Lane Park
Berry Lane Park along Garfield Avenue
Berry Lane Park is located in Hudson County, New Jersey
Berry Lane Park
LocationJersey City
Coordinates40°42′44″N 74°04′03″W
Area17.5 acres (0.071 km2)
CreatedNovember 2016 (2016-11)
Open2016
Site of Berry Lane Park in 2011 from Garfield Avenue with industrial silos in background
Berry Lane Park under construction looking east from Garfield Avenue (May 29, 2014)

Berry Lane Park is the largest municipal park in Jersey City. Features include two basketball courts, two tennis courts, a baseball field, a soccer field, a playground, a rain garden, 600 new trees, and a splash pad water park. New park features coexist with older existing structures that have been preserved or modified.[1][2][3]

The park takes its name from Berry Lane, a small thoroughfare created from property acquired by the city from the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1955 and named for then-Mayor Bernard J. Berry.[8]

The Berry Lane Park project site includes 11 properties formerly used as rail yards, auto repair shops, industrial facilities, and warehouses.[1][3] The site required significant environmental investigation and remediation due to petroleum and heavy metal contamination. A former chromium processing plant operated by PPG Industries caused substantial Hexavalent chromium contamination on the Berry Lane Park property and other adjacent properties, but PPG Industries agreed to remove 700,000 tons of hazardous waste from this and several other sites in the area.[9][10][11][12][13]

Post-environmental remediation construction began on Wednesday August 22, 2012.[3] The first and second phases of the project included final environmental remediation of contaminants and grading of the land as well as construction of the baseball field, and irrigation systems.[14] The third phase of the project, which included installation of over 100 high-efficiency lights throughout the park, began in April 2014. The fourth phase of the project, which included completion of the turf baseball and soccer fields as well as construction of event spaces, began during the summer of 2014. The final phase of construction, which included concessions facilities, restrooms, basketball courts, a dog run, and other smaller park features, began after the fourth phase is complete. In October 2014, Jersey City received a $5 million grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority that will facilitate completion of a large portion of the park in a single phase.[4][15][16] The park officially opened to the public in June 2016.[6]

Funding for the project includes grants from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the New Jersey Economic Development Authority,[15] Hudson County, a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).[1]

At the grand opening of the park, Jersey City, New Jersey mayor Steven Fulop announced a grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation to build a skate park.[6] A new baseball field opened in October 2016.[17] The skatepark opened in August 2020.[18]

See also

References
  1. "Berry Lane Park (Jersey City Redevelopment Agency)". Jersey City Redevelopment Agency. August 3, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  2. "Mayor Fulop Triples Annual Number of Park Projects with Nearly $6 Million in 2014 Investments; Renovations to 13 Parks Across All Wards & Accelerated Construction of Berry Lane Park" (PDF). February 24, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  3. Hortillosa, Summer Dawn (August 21, 2012). "Contaminated Land in Ward F Transforming into a Green Oasis: Berry Lane Park". Jersey City Independent. Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  4. D’Onofrio, Mike (April 23, 2014). "Berry Lane Park to Open Next Year in Jersey City". Jersey Journal. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  5. "Jersey City to host grand opening of $38 million Berry Lane Park Saturday". nj.com. 25 June 2016.
  6. "Hundreds celebrate opening of Jersey City's new $38M park". nj.com. 26 June 2016.
  7. http://morriscanaljc.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/techmemo2_revised_10-18-12.pdf
  8. "Jersey City Soon to have New Street, 'Berry Lane'" (fee required). Jersey Journal. Jersey City. February 2, 1955. p. 3. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  9. McDonald, Terrence (March 6, 2011). "More than 50,000 tons of soil removed from chromium site in Jersey City". Jersey Journal. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  10. Navarro, Miyera (April 5, 2011). "Better Cleanup Planned at Former Chrome Plant". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  11. Frohling, John B. (April 15, 2009). "Morris Canal Associates/Proposed Settlement Agreement Between PPG and the City of Jersey City" (PDF).
  12. Murray, Brian T. (June 12, 2009). "N.J. Delays Decision on Setting Stricter Limits on Carcinogen Chromium". Star-Ledger. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  13. Arrue, Karina L. (October 21, 2010). "Jersey City is Only New Jersey Recipient of $2.3 Million in Federal Grant Money to Fund Planning for 7,000-unit Development on 111-acre Wasteland Currently Being Cleaned of Toxins". Jersey Journal. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  14. Reyes, Daniel (August 23, 2012). "Jersey City Breaks Ground on Berry Lane Park, First Section to Open This Year". Jersey Journal. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  15. Hortillosa, Summer Dawn (October 24, 2014). "Jersey City Gets $5 Million in State Funds for Berry Lane Park". Jersey Journal. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  16. "$10 million construction starts next week to complete Jersey City's Berry Lane Park". nj.com. 28 January 2015.
  17. "Jersey City opens new baseball field at $40 million park". nj.com. 6 November 2016.
  18. "Jersey City opens new Berry Lane skatepark". 7 August 2020.
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