Hoboken released its plans for an expanded recreation space serve the dual purpose of providing recreation space and flood mitigation.
The new addition to the Southwest Resiliency Park will include six pickleball courts, a shaded plaza, playground, a full basketball court and rain gardens.
Hoboken Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla together with the city of Hoboken said the expansion doubles the size of the existing 1-acre park at 58 Jackson St.
The city acquired the 1-acre addition to the park from Academy Bus in April 2021 through an amicable acquisition utilizing funding from the Hudson County’s Open Space Trust Fund, Green Acres and Hoboken’s Open Space Trust Fund, at no impact to the municipal budget.
Four concept designs were presented to the public earlier this year, with the final amenities reflecting feedback through community engagement sessions and an online public survey.
“I’m proud that the final design of our expanded Southwest Resiliency Park reflects months of public feedback, and provides a number of much-needed active amenities for our community,” Bhalla said. “This is yet the latest, major initiative that will also help Hoboken adapt to climate change and more frequent rainstorms, with innovative flood mitigation strategies. I look forward to celebrating the beginning of construction with all of Hoboken next year.”
“This latest step in realizing the vision of what is the Southwest Park serves as a lesson in perseverance,” said Councilman At-Large Jim Doyle, chair of the Environmental Services Subcommittee. “It served as the inspiration for then-budding activist Dawn Zimmer to get involved in her community, and, all these many years later, it will both add to our open space and to our critical inventory of resilience measures to help us combat the effects of climate change.”
“I have long advocated for active recreational space in southwest Hoboken, and I am proud to have worked with the administration and my council colleagues to get one step closer to making this a reality,” 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos stated. “I want to thank the mayor for inviting me to be part of the negotiations to acquire this property from Academy. Through the public design process, we believe we have a park that serves dual needs in providing recreation and flood mitigation in Southwest Hoboken.”
The expanded Southwest Resiliency Park will more than double the stormwater detention capacity in the existing park, withholding a total of 460,000 gallons of stormwater to mitigate area flooding during heavy rain events through above and below-ground infrastructure.
