A children’s playscape. An interactive fountain. An outdoor gym and an “urban forest.”
It’s all part of the the preliminary design of the planned 3.4-acre Courthouse Park — on the site of the current Hudson County Administration Building in Journal Square — that was unveiled for the first time to the public Tuesday night at a community workshop with neighborhood residents.
Courthouse Park Advocacy Group President Laura Moss is keenly aware that the park is the first for a neighborhood residents who must travel to Enos Jones Park or Pershing Field for open space.
“It’s going to completely remake the neighborhood,” Moss said of the park bordered by Central, Newark and Pavonia avenues.
The preliminary design, on land that is being transferred from the county to Jersey City, would include a multi-use lawn, a pollinator garden and possibly even a cafe and restrooms at a total cost of $14 million.
The design has not been finalized, and Tuesday’s meeting, which was attended by approximately 40 people in-person and another 40 online, gave residents an opportunity to provide more ideas and feedback on the initial design by the SWA Group.
The city anticipates finalizing the master plan for the park by the end of the year, followed by the demolition of the Administration Building by the end of 2026 and the completion of the park in 2027.
“This really came out of what the community wanted,” Moss said. “... When you look at where it is and who it is going to serve it makes sense to have it as multi-purpose as you can and try to maximize space so that everyone has a little chunk of it. But ... you are never going to make everyone happy. ... I just think it’s a victory we are getting this at all.”
She called it “remarkable” that the county, in the process of building a new courthouse building on the other side of Newark Avenue, could work with the city and make the much-needed park a reality.
“The city from the very beginning, when we came to them, was very adamant that they would work with the community to give us what we want,” Moss said.
The debate over the redesign of Liberty State Park has centered on the lack of ballfields for Jersey City’s youth, but Moss said the courthouse space is too small for a field and also there wasn’t a demand for it.
“They did a bunch of surveys,” Moss said. “They asked ‘Do you want basketball courts? Do you want tennis courts? Do you want all this?’ And the community was kind of like, bang for your buck, a tennis court would ultimately be used by only a small percentage of people.
“Personally I just want to see trees and benches. How it works out with the minor details has never been my drive. My drive has been to secure it as a park and make sure the neighborhood gets what it wants and what it needs.”