Mayor Ravi Bhalla, former Mayor Dawn Zimmer, elected officials and the Hoboken community celebrated the grand opening of the new resiliency park at 7th and Jackson Streets today. The new park features playground equipment, one acre of open lawn space, a new gymnasium, seating area, and infrastructure to capture over 450,000 gallons of rainwater to reduce flooding. The park is now open to the public.
“The new resiliency park at 7th and Jackson is a model for the state in providing both open space amenities and also below ground infrastructure to help mitigate rainfall flooding,” said Mayor Bhalla. “Residents, visitors, and local businesses will now have two acres of much needed park space to relax, take their kids to the park, and enjoy the outdoors. I thank the many stakeholders who have played a large role in making this project a reality, especially former Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Larry Bijou and the Council sub-committee.”
“The 7th & Jackson Resiliency Park project will bring tremendous co-benefits for our community including green infrastructure to address flooding risks, a wonderful new park for everyone, and also support the local artists and businesses in the Monroe Center,” said Mayor Zimmer. “I am extremely proud of our efforts to get this planned and then built through a collaborative process starting with my Administration and followed through by Mayor Bhalla and his Administration in partnership with the property owner, Larry Bijou. Congratulations to Mayor Bhalla and thank you to everyone that was involved in getting this project completed.”
“What an amazing day to celebrate,” said Councilman Michael Russo. “To think, we the community of the 3rd Ward fought from the potential relocation of the Municipal works garage to this site, to now seeing what we have accomplished by stopping that relocation and negotiating this beautiful park, gymnasium and playground! So many thanks to the neighbors of our community, the members of the subcommittee, Councilman Doyle, and former Councilmen Mello and Occhipinti, former Mayor Zimmer and of course our current Mayor, Ravi Bhalla who has made it a priority to see this project through.”
“We take pride in creating great neighborhoods, not just buildings, so we are thrilled to celebrate the opening of the resiliency park, playground, and public gymnasium as part of our award-winning 7 Seventy House project,” said Bijou Properties Managing Partner Larry Bijou. “I congratulate and thank Mayor Bhalla, former Mayor Zimmer, the City Council, staff, and everyone whose partnership was critical to making this project a success.”
“We are pleased to have partnered with Bijou Properties in delivering the park and gymnasium to the wonderful city of Hoboken,” said Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. Chairman and CEO, Peter Palandjian.
The second phase of the park will include the buildout of the one-acre public plaza, which will feature step seating with a tilted lawn panel for relaxing and passive gatherings, play sculpture, and a large plaza area designed to accommodate vendors and seasonal markets. The park will also include a shade structure which will be transferred from the Northwest Pop-up Park when construction begins on the permanent park.
Mayor Bhalla and the City are committed to acquiring, building out and upgrading over 9 acres of open space and parks, including the 5 acre Northwest Park, 1 acre Southwest Park expansion at Block 10, the new 7th and Jackson Park and the recently renovated Madison Street Park.
