Nutley, Newark Athletic Fields Get $1.5M Facelift In Essex County

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A $1.5 million “modernization” effort at two Essex County parks will help local baseball and softball players field those hard-to-handle grounders a little easier, officials announced last week.

The infields of the softball field in Nutley’s Yanticaw Park and two Little League baseball fields in Branch Brook Park (Newark/Belleville) now have synthetic playing surfaces. The new turf will address flooding issues on all three fields and help ensure “modern and safe playing conditions,” Essex County officials said.

Work on the fields started in June and finished in three months, officials said.

Bowman Consulting from Newark was awarded a $61,920 contract to design the upgrades to the athletic fields. Landtek Group from Amityville, NY was awarded a publicly bid $1,498,945 contract to perform the construction work. The Essex County Department of Public Works monitored the project. Funding was provided with a grant from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund and the Essex County Capital Budget.

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Photos: Essex County