WOODCLIFF LAKE —Mayor Carlos Rendo expressed disappointment Dec. 22, 2022 that at least five years of mayor and council efforts to establish a long-sought Galaxy Gardens passive park at Woodcliff Avenue and Werimus Road have not yet resulted in a park for residents to use and enjoy.
Delays appear to have jeopardized major funding.
The council purchased the property in January 2018 for $1.65 million and spent $400,000 to clean up the soil contamination from prior uses as a garden center and gas station.
“I’m disappointed that it hasn’t gotten done, the process has been slow,” said the mayor.
He said he hoped that councilwomen Jacqueline Gadaleta and Josephine Higgins and whoever is selected as the new council president, “can move this project along. Hopefully, we can get this done or at least started by 2023. If not, I don’t know when it’s going to get done.”
Rendo said due to delays, an anonymous lead donor had backed away from her $750,000 commitment to the park. He also said there were questions about Party City’s nearly $250,000 commitment, as well as whether state funding dollars may be held up.
Rendo said he “hates to lose those grants” but noted that the council may be able to save the $750,000 donation “depending on when we do it and what is included in the project.” He said the grants may yet be saved if the council makes the passive park “a priority.”
He cited councilwoman Jennifer Margolis’s efforts to move along the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir Nature Trail — planned to open around April 22 — as a successful project outcome.
Rendo said that efforts to acquire and convert the property to a park actually started a decade ago but “haven’t gotten it done” for the residents.
“The process has been slow, so hopefully we can move this process along in 2023,” Rendo added.
In June 2022, the park’s architect, Frances Reiner, of DMR Architects, told council that the park’s opening date was likely late summer to early fall of 2023. He estimated construction costs at $3.5 million. It was not clear what timetable might be possible now.
Rendo said in June that most of the park’s costs had been underwritten by county grant funds, municipal Open Space funds, and private donations. “The park is finally coming together. It’s a great thing to take an environmentally impacted area, clean it up, and give it back to the community.”
He called the park’s development a partnership of the county, community, and council and nearly a decade in planning and development.
So far, no official name has been selected for the park, which is informally called “Galaxy Gardens Park,” and sited on approximately 2.1 acres at a busy intersection of two county roads.
The naming rights are one fundraising item up for negotiation, said Rendo in June. He said in June that an anonymous individual had donated $750,000 to the park and that Party City kicked in $250,000.
The estimated costs to develop the park were noted as:
- $599,340 for a Party City Pavilion;
- $201,120 for bathroom facilities;
- $631,400 for landscapes, planting and site work;
- $790,900 for other park improvements;
- $542,600 for site lighting/electrical work; and
- $691,340 for the general contractor, bonds, insurance and contingency (25%).
Reiner offered a brief video and site renderings at the June 20 Borough Council meeting to provide an overview of what residents can expect to see in some 15 months.
“This will be a truly transformative project that will provide an outdoor gathering and recreation space in a borough that doesn’t have an official downtown district,” said a statement from Axiom Communications, a public relations firm hired by the borough.
Reiner said the park will include a performance space, including an amphitheater with seating for 250–300, a shade structure, a pergola, quarter-mile walking paths, a playground for children, a pavilion, benches, a dog park, a large central water feature, and a space for community events such as holiday tree lightings, menorah celebrations, plus arts and music festivals, and shows and presentations.
The park will include 13 parking spaces, and Rendo said in June that residents will be encouraged to walk to the park. He noted the dog park would feature play areas for small and large dogs.