jjberrylane
A grant of $300,000, approved by the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders, was awarded to the Berry Lane Park project in Jersey City.
(EJA)
The Hudson County Freeholders have awarded Jersey City $300,000 in Open Space grant money for ongoing construction at Berry Lane Park.
The Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund grant will help build skateboard park and pavilion with bathroom amenities in Jersey City's Berry Lane Park, located on Garfield Avenue just south of Communipaw Avenue.
Approved by the Freeholders, these funds will result in phase IV site improvements to the park. The $300,000 grant was awarded for the term of Aug. 13, 2015 to Aug. 11, 2017.
The grant was supposed to pay to bring some elements of the city-owned Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre up to fire and safety code standards, but city officials want to give instead to the construction of Berry Lane Park.
Last year, Jersey City received $1.4 million from the Open Space Trust Fund for the Berry Lane project and work at Caven Point. Jersey City's grant was one of 10 other projects that received funding from Open Space last year.
Berry Lane Park, a 17-acre park under construction in Bergen-Lafayette, is expected to be completed by the end of the year and become the city's largest municipal park.
It will include two basketball courts, two tennis courts, a baseball field, a soccer field, a dog run, a spray park, a skatepark, an adult fitness course and a playground. In addition, it will feature some 700 new trees, sitting areas, and a rain garden.
The Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund was created through a referendum in 2003 to enhance and develop the recreational facilities of Hudson County.