The city is one small step closer to a new park on Springwood Avenue.
Workers removed oil tanks [pictured at right] from the block of Springwood where the park is planned, between Union and Atkins avenues, on Monday. One of the tanks had a leak, so the soil around that tank must be taken out, as well, to mitigate contamination.
Once the contaminated soil is removed, the city will come into some funding promised to them by Monmouth County, according to redevelopment and planning director Don Sammet. This amounts to one $250,000 grant and another for $80,000. The county stipulated the site had to be clean before the city could receive the funding.
But the park’s construction will likely cost about $1.5 million, Sammet said. He expects the city will seek funding from nonprofits and other grant opportunities.
“There’s no way we’re going to get all of the money at once to build it out, so we’re coming up with a phasing plan so we can build the field out first and then put in the playground next,” he said.
The park will cover the entire block, which is about 1.5 acres.
“It’s easily accessed because Atkins Avenue also connects to the water park just to the north, and it’s easy access to the adjoining residential areas,” Sammet said of selecting the park’s location.
The 20-member Springwood Avenue redevelopment committee, which consists of area residents, came up with the plans for the park, Sammet said.
“The pakr wasn’t designed by someone in City Hall sitting down, drawing up what they think should be in a park,” Sammet said. “The advisory committee came up with it.”
The committee members followed a few guidelines when planning the park.
“It had to have space for active recreation — for people to come and throw a ball around, take a stroll through the park,” he said. “We also wanted to ahve a place where kids could come and play, and we wanted it to be a community gathering space.
The park will have a walking and jogging path around its perimeter, and a stage for entertainment.
The park has been in the works since the Springwood Avenue plan was adopted in 2008. The plan incorporated a park because aside from the small nearby waterpark, the southwest quadrant of Asbury Park has no parks, Sammet said. The city master plan also recommends a park in the area.
The city had to acquire the land from former Springwood Avenue redeveloper Asbury Shores, which still had ownership of the land in 2008, Sammet said. Now, all the land is city-owned.
Sammet did not have an estimate as to when the park will be complete as the funding situation is still in flux.
“We’ve gotten a lot done up to this point, though,” he said.
