Jackson Street Park reopened with a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon. “We are thrilled to provide this park to our community,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “We want everyone in Hoboken to be a short walking distance from a park.”
Zimmer said 2012 is the year of the parks. “We’ve been upgrading all of the parks in Hoboken,” she said. The mayor credited Health and Human Services Director Leo Pellegrini and the City Council for helping to make park improvements possible.
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The park at 102 Jackson St. is the second to reopen with new equipment, and children from Connors Elementary School and the World of Wonder Daycare Center were on the scene to test out new slides, ladders, monkey bars, and climbing walls.
“It was cool,” said six-year-old Milla Verma. The slides, she said, were her favorite.
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In what remains of a former municipal building, the new set-up was designed by Playworld Systems and took about six months to plan and build, said Pellegrini. All the equipment is new besides the water feature, he said, and the park is now compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The space was converted into a park about eight years ago, Pellegrini said, and residents did not want to get rid of the trees that were there. “Everyone said we don’t mind renovating the park, but we want to leave the trees,” he said. He added that keeping the trees didn’t leave enough space for swings.
Parents were happy too.
“It’s great,” said Rachel Mehta, who was at the park with her three-year-old daughter. “I just love the colors, love the equipment.”
Nearby resident Rebecca Verma said she is glad to see the improvements, especially the safety surface that replaced the old wood chips. “The nice thing about this park is that it’s good for the three-year-old, it’s good for the six-year-old and beyond,” she said. “They did a really nice job.”
