Big Upgrades Coming To Brookdale Park In Montclair, Bloomfield

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A pair of big upgrades are underway at Brookdale Park in Montclair and Bloomfield, county officials announced this week.

According to a statement from Essex County, the first project is the construction of a permanent bandstand and open-air pavilion; the second includes improvements to the four Little League/softball fields and soccer field.

County officials released the following details about the improvements.

BANDSTAND – The bandstand will be used during the Essex County Free Summer Concert Series, which regularly hosts weekly Friday night concerts throughout the summer and an Independence Day concert and fireworks spectacular. When not in use for concerts or other programming, the bandstand will be accessible as an open-air pavilion that can be utilized for shade by the public. The bandstand, which is 19.5 feet wide and 30 feet long, will be equipped with infrastructure to support musical concerts and performances, including rigging, lighting and electrical power and storage space. Additional site improvements include tree pruning and the removal of dead trees, installation of lighting along nearby walking paths and around the bandstand to enhance public safety, repairs of paving and curbs, and installation of benches and garbage cans. The bandstand will be handicap accessible. Barreto Dowd Landscape Architecture and Site Planning from Howell was awarded a professional services contract for $241,520 to design the bandstand. ZN Construction from Elmwood Park was awarded a publicly bid contract for $1,245,000 to build the bandstand. The bandstand is being funded through a grant from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund. Work started earlier this month and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022.

FIELDS – The fields are located in the northern section of the park. The installation of the synthetic playing surface on four Little League/softball fields will stabilize the infields and the improved drainage that is part of the field improvements will help alleviate flooding. The outfield sections of the ballfields will remain natural grass. In the stadium, sports lighting will be installed at the soccer field. French and Parrello from Wall were awarded a professional services contract for $157,450 to design the field improvements. The construction contract for the fields is scheduled to appear on the Board of Commissioners agenda on Wednesday, October 12th. If approved, the field improvements will be funded with grants from the American Rescue program and Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund. The fields are scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2023.

“The creation of the bandstand will help us reduce the amount of work needed to put on a concert and help us put on a more professional presentation when we host concerts and other events in Brookdale Park,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

“It also follows Olmsted’s idea to create pavilions to attract people to the outdoors and give them shelter when they are enjoying open spaces in the parks system,” DiVincenzo added. “Putting synthetic playing surfaces on the infield section of the fields will improve play, reduce maintenance costs and provide our young athletes with more up-to-date fields on which to play.”

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