Carter Park, South Orange, NJ
Last week, Essex County announced that 21 of its 22 municipalities would each be receiving $150,000 in County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund grants for improvements to local parks, playgrounds, recreation and athletic facilities and pools.
Maplewood will be using its $150,000 for the repair of the Civic House Bridge in Memorial Park. South Orange will use its funds for improvements to Carter Park (on College Place near Irvington Avenue). Millburn’s funds will improve Taylor Park.
Civic House Bridge, Maplewood Memorial Park, Maplewood, NJ
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From the office of Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr.:
Essex County, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced that Essex County awarded $3.15 million in Local Aid grants to 21 municipalities in Essex County. The funds came from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund and will be used to improve municipal playgrounds, recreation and athletic facilities, community swimming pools and parks infrastructure. This is the sixth round of grant funding Essex County has provided to the municipalities from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund since 2003.
“I am pleased to partner with our municipalities and the Trust Fund to modernize athletic fields, create skate parks, upgrade community pool infrastructure, restore public gardens, build playgrounds, stabilize waterways and acquire open space, to name just a few of the projects funded by this program through the years. These improvements have kept our parks up to date and enabled our open spaces to meet the changing needs and growing demands of our residents,” DiVincenzo said. “When the 2020 application process for the Local Aid Program began last year, the Coronavirus was not even on our radar. Now, as restrictions are being lifted and we return to a new normal, our parks and recreation spaces will have an even greater role than before. Families breaking free of stay-at-home orders will be looking for outlets and the construction contracts that will be awarded will help jumpstart the economy and create jobs, just as we did with the program in 2009 after the Great Recession,” he added.
| Municipality | Amount Awarded | Description |
| Belleville | $150,000 | Fairway Park Improvement Project |
| Bloomfield | $150,000 | Memorial Park Tennis/Pickle Ball Court Improvements |
| Caldwell | $150,000 | Harrison School Field Improvements |
| Cedar Grove | $150,000 | Community Park Playground Improvements |
| East Orange | $150,000 | Columbian Park Playground Improvements |
| Fairfield | $150,000 | Hollywood Avenue Park Renovations Phase 2 |
| Glen Ridge | $150,000 | Hurrell Field Sports Track Improvements |
| Irvington | $150,000 | Orange Park Pools Renovation |
| Livingston | $150,000 | Livingston Community Center and Northland Park Playground Replacement Project |
| Maplewood | $150,000 | Repair of Civic House Bridge in Memorial Park |
| Millburn | $150,000 | Taylor Park Improvements |
| Montclair | $150,000 | Rand and Canterbury Park |
| Newark | $150,000 | Ridgewood Avenue Park Project |
| North Caldwell | $150,000 | Walker’s Pond Dredging |
| Nutley | $150,000 | Glotzbach Park Band Shelter Project |
| Orange | $150,000 | Colgate Park Pool Improvements |
| Roseland | $150,000 | Rehabilitation of Tedesco Park |
| South Orange | $150,000 | Carter Park Renovation |
| Verona | $150,000 | Accessible Play Area and Adult Exercise Area at Liberty Field |
| West Caldwell | $150,000 | Harrison School Field Improvements |
| West Orange | $150,000 | Degnan Park Softball Field Improvements |
| Total | $3,150,000 |
Each of the 22 municipalities in Essex County were eligible to receive a $150,000 grant to help fund a local parks improvement project. These awards are outright grants; the municipalities did not have to provide matching funds. Essex Fells did not submit an application for funding.
Approved by voters in 1998, money from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund can be used to maintain recreation facilities, acquire open space, preserve historic sites or support projects that enhance water quality or flow. The Trust Fund receives its funding from a dedicated tax that is collected quarterly from property owners.
