HOBOKEN -- Mayor Dawn Zimmer was a stay-at-home mom when she joined neighbors in the Mile-Square City's Fourth Ward ten years ago to campaign for a park in their flood-prone neighborhood in the city's southwest corner, where light industry was gradually being replaced by families and other residents.
"I want to say that I'm really proud to have been a part of the groundswell of advocacy for park space and doing something to alleviate the flooding in our neighborhood and Hoboken," Zimmer said during a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday. "That happened for me back in 2006. I had a 3-year-old and a 1 1/2-year-old, and I knew as a mom how -- and I'm sure parents can relate to this -- how difficult it is to take two toddlers and try to walk 20 minutes over to Church Square Park, or over to the waterfront, and it's just not that easy. And every community deserves a park in their neighborhood."
Zimmer said creation of a park in her neighborhood was the main reason she ran for City Council in 2007, before becoming mayor two years later. And after a decade of advocating for a park as a homeowner and then pushing for support and funding for one as an elected official, on Thursday she picked up a shovel with local and state officials and dug into a ceremonial pile of dirt during a groundbreaking for the $10 million Southwest Park.
The 1-acre park will occupy what is now a vacant lot bounded by Paterson Avenue and Observer Highway to the north and south, and Jackson and Harrison Streets to the east and west. Zimmer said after the groundbreaking that, weather and other factors permitting, the park should be completed in the summer of 2017.
It will include grassy "passive recreational space," shade trees, lighted paths with pavers spaced apart for porousness, and a cistern for collecting and reusing rainwater. There will also be restrooms, a dog run, cafe tables, an area for temporary markets, a small performance space with seating, and free Wi-Fi.
Below the park, there will be an underground network of large water tanks, or cells, for collecting a total of 200,000 gallons of storm water that otherwise would flood surrounding streets, basements and ground floor apartments. The cells will be linked by pipes and pumps to transmit the water to the Hudson River.
Zimmer has pointed to a water main break days before Thanksgiving last year as the kind of flooding that the underground system would help to alleviate.
The city intends to acquire another acre to double the size of the park, on adjacent vacant property now owned by Academy Bus, though the company's $13 million initial asking price is triple what the city paid for the acre that will house the first phase of the park.
The groundbreaking included members of the public who had been involved in the project from its beginnings, as well as officials of Hudson County, which gave the city a $2.3 million grant that paid for half the cost of acquiring the land, and the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, which provided $5 million in low-interest loans to pay for construction.
"In 2006, we looked around and said, 'This is going to be a great neighborhood,'" said John A. Gregorio, a Fourth Ward resident and early park proponent. "And 10 years ago I said, 'This is the only ward that doesn't have a park.'"
Hudson County Freeholder Anthony Romano, a Hoboken resident, said the park was, "another example of working together and listening to the community."
David Zimmer, executive director of the environmental trust -- no relation to the mayor -- credited her with taking advantage of available funds, after her predecessors had never even asked. He noted that the city had saved an estimated $2 million by using the trust's low and zero-interest loan programs rather than issuing bonds to raise the money.
"Five years ago, we did not have a relationship with Hoboken," said Zimmer, an appointee of Gov. Chris Christie. "And then Mayor Zimmer came in."
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