WOODCLIFF LAKE—A grateful Borough Council on July 15 accepted a $750,000 conditional grant from a charitable endowment program, weeks after the council approved a $2.75 million construction contract to build the long-delayed passive park.
Council passed Resolution 24-167 “solely and exclusively for the Galaxy Gardens project for the benefit of the Borough of Woodcliff Lake,” states the resolution.
The vote was 4-0. Members Benjamin Pollack and Joshua Stern were absent.
Mayor Carlos Rendo later told Pascack Press that he was “very happy” with the anonymous $750,000 contribution to the new park and that work was underway at the site, including tree removal and excavation, with a spring 2025 opening planned.
The $750,000 is a conditional grant by Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. The council in mid-May approved a $3.5 million bond for park construction, based upon estimates from the borough engineer and architect.
Administrator Tom Padilla told us bond funds would be used only when needed and that a large portion of park construction would be reimbursed with private donations and county open space funds.
Officials said work at the site began in late June, and Rendo posted a likely project timeline immediately after the contract was awarded. On his Facebook page, Rendo noted construction would begin in summer, with landscaping and installations done by October, and a completed park by year-end. Rendo said anyone passing the site on weekdays will likely see workers on the site.
He estimated an official grand opening in spring 2025. “Stay tuned for naming and sponsorship information,” wrote the mayor on June 26.
The borough bought the 2.1-acre property for $1.65 million in early 2018 and spent nearly $500,000 in remediating soil contamination from prior uses as a garden center and a service station before that.
Officials said that the site, when purchased, saw its cost lowered from $1.75 million to $1.65 million to allow $100,000 for site remediation costs. Padilla said the borough also had $246,000 in county grant monies that would be used to offset park costs.
At one point, Rendo had said park naming rights were a fundraising item and still up for negotiation with interested parties. Padilla told us recently that the mayor and council now likely planned to have a park naming contest and seek public input.
Rendo said before that another likely source of park fundraising could include the sale of at least 14 personalized park benches and a donor wall for major donors or contributors.