29 May ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES UPGRADES TO ESSEX COUNTY BRANCH BROOK PARK BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL FIELDS Three Diamonds has Synthetic Playing Surfaces Installed on their Infields
Published on May 29, 2024
Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced that the baseball and softball fields in the Essex County Branch Brook Park Northern Division have been modernized with synthetic infield playing surfaces on Tuesday, May 28th. The upgrades will reduce maintenance and maximize use of the fields. It is part of the County Executive’s ongoing initiative to revitalize the Essex County Parks System and provide the most up-to-date recreation facilities.
“The community relies on our Essex County Parks System for fields and facilities to support recreation programs. Therefore, it is imperative that we come up with new ways to make it easier to maintain our fields, provide up-to-date playing conditions and maximize use,” DiVincenzo said. “Improving the infields with synthetic surfaces is a way to address the condition of the field and preserve more natural turfed areas in our parks,” he added.
“I am grateful to be part of a team that follows through on what it says it will do. We do a spectacular job of meeting the community’s needs by integrating modern facilities without disturbing the historic elements of Branch Brook,” Senate Majority Leader and Deputy Chief of Staff Teresa Ruiz said.
“The fields get a lot of use, and we were so used to calling the Parks Department to fix the fields after it rained. This is a great improvement and is a tribute to the meeting the needs of the community,” Newark North Ward Councilman and Citizen Services Director Anibal Ramos said.
“The Alliance is always proud to stand with the County on the improvements they do to keep Branch Brook Park vibrant and we look forward to more opportunities to celebrate this open space,” Branch Brook Park Alliance President Thomas Dougherty said.
“It’s exciting to see the community enhanced with these fields. Under Joe’s direction, the park is always evolving to meet the needs of the residents,” Forest Hills Community Association President Jackie Jay said.
Known as the “three diamonds,” the area behind the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center includes a full-size baseball field and two Little League/softball fields. An improved drainage system will be installed to alleviate flooding and the infield portions of the three fields have been updated with a synthetic playing surface. The outfield areas of the three fields remain as natural grass. New fencing, covered dugouts, bleachers for spectators, pathways and landscaping have been installed.
The concept of updating the infields with synthetic playing surfaces and leaving the outfields with natural grass was first introduced in the Essex County Parks System at Brookdale Park. Because of the success of the project, it has been replicated in Branch Brook Park.
French and Parrello from Wall received a professional services contract of $88,000 to design the field improvements. The Landtek Group from Amityville was awarded a publicly bid contract of $3,068,000 to perform the construction work. The Essex County Department of Public Works monitored the project to ensure delays are avoided. The project was funded with grants from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund and the American Rescue Fund.
Revitalizing Essex County’s Branch Brook Park
The Branch Brook Park Alliance has been the primary partner with Essex County to revitalize Branch Brook Park, which opened in 1895. More than $50 million worth of upgrades have been made throughout the park through this partnership. Park enhancements have been supported with grants from corporations, the New Jersey Green Acres program, the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund, philanthropic organizations and community members. In addition, the Alliance has sponsored a variety of programs to clean the waterways, spruce up the park, maintain the cherry tree collection, develop an urban farm, among other activities.
The Ballantine Gates on Lake Street were preserved and refurbished in 2020. The Branch Brook Dog Park was opened in 2019. A new synthetic grass surface was installed on the Robert Clemente Baseball Field in 2019. Synthetic grass surfaces were installed on the Ray Dandridge and Jerome Greco Little League Fields in 2018. A bronze bust of Frederick Law Olmstead was dedicated in 2018 and a bronze bust of Mendelssohn was restored and rededicated in 2017; both are located in the Prudential Concert Grove. A playground designed with a cherry blossom theme was opened at the Essex County Cherry Blossom Welcome Center in 2015. The Barbara Bell Coleman Welcome Center and Concourse Hill upgrades, along with the opening of a two-mile, synthetic surface walking track, creation of a children’s garden at the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, renovation of a well in the Park’s Northern Division, the rehabilitation of the Reservoir Walls in the Park’s Southern Division and modernization of the Clifton Avenue basketball courts were completed in 2014. The bronze statue honor the late tennis legend Althea Gibson was dedicated and the 20-court tennis complex named in her honor received a complete makeover in March 2012 and the field house in the tennis complex was renovated in July 2012.
A multi-phase project to upgrade the lakefront in the Southern Division was completed in April 2012. It included the restoration of the historic Prudential Lions statues and balustrade, the rehabilitation of two buildings for restrooms and public meeting space, updating the music court with new pavers and landscaping. The music court overlooking the lake was dedicated as the “Prudential Concert Grove” to recognize the corporation’s ongoing support to restore the Park, and a memorial cherry tree grove was rededicated in honor of Kiyofumi Sakaguchi, who was President and CEO of Prudential International Insurance at the time of his death.
The renovation of the historic Octagon Fieldhouse in the Essex County Stephen N. Adubato, Sr. Sports Complex was completed in April 2011. Completed in 2010 were a project to pave the park roadway, upgrade walking paths, and install historic lighting in the section of the park from the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center to Heller Parkway, the planting of 600 Cherry Trees and other trees throughout Branch Brook Park and the paving of the park roadway from Mill Street to Washington Street.
In September 2009, the Middle Division Recreation Complex was renamed as the “Essex County Stephen N. Adubato, Sr. Sports Complex,” in honor of the founder of The North Ward Center and Robert Treat Academy. In August 2009, a synthetic surface football/soccer field was constructed and named after NFL Hall of Famer and Barringer High School alumni Andre Tippett. Earlier in 2009, a “demonstration project” in the Branch Brook Park Extension enhanced landscaping, added Cherry Trees, improved pathways and modernized entranceways into the park from Franklin Avenue. The Bloomfield Avenue Bridge that passes over the Middle Division was rehabilitated in 2009.
The Cherry Blossom Welcome Center was renovated and transformed into a year-round showplace to raise awareness about the Japanese Flowering Cherry Blossom Trees in 2008. A replica of the historic Octagon Shelter in the Southern Division of Essex County Branch Brook Park was built in 2007 and the baseball field complex known as the “three diamonds” was upgraded in 2007. The baseball/softball complex in the Branch Brook Park Middle Division was reopened in April 2005 after a remediation and modernization project, and the historic restoration of the Park Avenue Bridge was completed in 2005. Entrance enhancements, new fencing and landscaping along Clifton Avenue and Mill Street, and a major improvement project along Lake Street have made the park more inviting.
The Essex County Park System was created in 1895 and is the first county park system established in the United States. The Park System consists of more than 6,000 acres and has 23 parks, five reservations, an environmental center, a zoo, Treetop Adventure Course, ice skating rink, roller skating rink, three public golf courses, a miniature golf course, golf driving range, four off-leash dog facilities, a castle and the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens. Branch Brook Park was created in 1895 and is the first park in Essex County’s system. At 359.72 acres, it is the largest county park in Essex.