When I was a kid, the area that is now Liberty State Park was in its last days as a transportation hub. By my early 20s, the Central Railroad of New Jersey ceased service and over the next decade, the once bustling waterfront was abandoned. It became a dumping ground with derelict buildings, piles of debris and overgrown weeds.
With the advocacy of concerned citizens and politicians who saw the potential for a park overlooking the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Liberty State Park was created in time for our nation’s Bicentennial Anniversary.
I was in my early 30s when a 35-acre portion of Liberty State Park opened. Although I had two young boys at the time, I never visited the park with them. Instead, we traveled from my home in Greenville all the way to a park in Bayonne because there really wasn’t anything in Liberty State Park for the kids.
Back then, the state had plans for the interior portions of the park that included creating more recreational facilities for both local residents as well as potential visitors from around the state and nation. For a variety of reasons, those plans never came to fruition.
Now that I’m in my 70s, my hope is that Liberty State Park will finally become a place where I can take my grandkids, who are 10 and 13. Right now, there’s really no reason to visit the park with them because there’s nothing there for them to do.
Fortunately, plans are underway at Liberty State Park to achieve its full potential and promise as a premier destination for the community and visitors to gather, play, relax and enjoy the outdoors in the nation’s most densely populated region.
As anyone who has ever visited knows, 250 acres, or 40%, of Liberty State Park remains fenced off due to historic contamination from chromium. No parent or grandparent should put a child’s health at risk by playing near a polluted site.
Cleaning up the interior 240 acres of the park is good for the environment, good for the health of the people living nearby and good for the birds and wildlife that call Liberty State Park home. The cleanup of the park is also an environmental and social justice issue, especially for the residents of Ward A and F who live nearby.
As president of The People’s Park Foundation, we have put forth a vision for this portion of the park once cleanup is completed that includes athletic fields for football, soccer, lacrosse, rugby, baseball, softball and cricket; courts for tennis, pickleball, volleyball and basketball; and a 250,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art community center with ice hockey, an Olympic-size swimming and diving pool, fitness center and community spaces.
The foundation also envisions a 5,000-seat multi-use stadium to host local and state high school championships and a separate track and field complex for local students to train and compete in.
As I travel to schools throughout Jersey City to talk about the vision, I hear complaints regularly from parents, students, coaches and administrators that we don’t have enough athletic fields and courts to practice and play games. We owe it to our children in Jersey City to give them the athletic facilities they deserve.
What’s clear to me in my travels is that there is widespread support for this vision from every corner of the city. For too long, we’ve heard only one side of the argument for keeping Liberty State Park as it is. In fairness to all who live in the community, Liberty State Park can be and should be more. It is simply unfair to block children, families, schools and other community interests from realizing the opportunity of an active recreational park in an urban setting.
The park also remains inaccessible to most residents living in surrounding underserved communities. An important component of the People’s Park Foundation’s vision is making the park more accessible by including bike sharing and electric shuttle services.
Over the next few months, the public will be invited to participate in the planning process for the future of our park. You will likely hear a lot of noise about private interests trying to take over the park. Nothing can be further from the truth. These facilities will be built for and available to everyone in Jersey City and the surrounding communities.
Join me in advocating for a modern, 21st-century community park that preserves open space and provides something for everyone with state-of-the-art facilities and opportunities for passive and active recreation.
Bob Hurley is a lifelong resident of Jersey City, a retired Hall of Fame basketball coach for St. Anthony’s High School and president and CEO of the People’s Park Foundation.