The playground at Gove Park will remain open during construction to improve the park, which will now begin around August 3 and will continue through the end of the year, South Orange Village announced on Tuesday.
The rest of the park will be closed during construction, the announcement said.
The nearly $1-million reconstruction work on the park, which was originally slated to begin on July 15, includes new walking paths, landscaping, benches, and trash receptacles, which, according to the announcement, will create “a more attractive and accessible public space.”
Village officials say the playground at Grove Park will remain open during construction. (Photo by Laura Griffin)
Village officials, particularly Council Member Bill Haskins, have been working with neighbors who’ve pushed for the rehabilitation project since 2022, when as many as 36 trees in Grove Park died from disease and had to be chopped down.
RELATED 2022: South Orange Announces 31-36 Trees to be Removed from Grove Park
“[Losing the trees] was a real tragedy for our community,” Haskins said at the March 9, 2026 Village Council meeting. “It impacted a lot of people; it impacted me greatly to have to see that work through. We had to do it. Those trees were dead and they were a hazard, but it decimated the park at the time.”
The rehabilitation work includes the removal of existing walkways, installation of under-drains and surface drainage systems, construction of new sidewalks and ADA-compliant curb ramps, site regrading, and extensive landscaping.
It also includes the planting of 34 large deciduous trees, 41 flowering deciduous trees, 603 deciduous shrubs and 785 evergreen perennials.
RELATED: South Orange Awards Nearly $1-million contract for Grove Park Rehabilitation Project
According to the announcement, Grove Park was established in 1908 through the efforts of local residents who purchased and donated the land to create a public park and is “an important part of South Orange’s history.”
The restoration has been designed to preserve the park’s historic character and original landscape while improving accessibility, drainage and long-term sustainability, the announcement says.
A sketch of plan is below.
