07 Sep ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES IMPROVEMENTS TO ESSEX COUNTY BROOKDALE PARK TENNIS AND PICKLEBALL FACILITY
Published on September 7, 2023
Bloomfield/Montclair, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced that a project is underway to modernize the Essex County Tennis and Pickleball Facility in Essex County Brookdale Park with new playing surfaces, fencing, netting and sports lighting. The improvements are part of the County Executive’s ongoing initiative to revitalize the Essex County Parks System and provide up-to-date recreation facilities.
“We always are continuing to improve upon our recreation facilities to ensure they meet the changing needs of our residents. The improvements we are doing at the Tennis Facility will relocate the pickleball courts so they are further away from residential homes and less disruptive to the calm of the neighborhood,” DiVincenzo said.
“Thank you, Joe, for another outstanding project that allows individuals to enjoy open space and recreation. The community will benefit from these improvements,” Commissioner Brendan Gill said. “Pickleball is being played by so many people now. I congratulate the County Executive for making this happen and staying up with the times,” Commissioner Patricia Sebold said.
“Improving the tennis and pickleball complex is near and dear to my heart because my daughter takes tennis lessons and I play tennis. This is greatly needed and we appreciate the resources the County Executive invests in our community,” Bloomfield Mayor Mike Venezia said.
“I am excited about this project because Essex County has been doing so much in Brookdale Park,” Brookdale Park Conservancy President Don McLaughlin said, referring to the baseball fields that were updated with synthetic surface infields, the running track and soccer field being resurfaced, the grandstand being repaired and the concern pavilion being built.
When the pickleball courts were introduced to the Tennis Facility in 2019, they were located in a section of the complex that was close to the homes on Grandview Place. In response to concerns by residents about the noise created by the plastic pickleballs hitting off wooden rackets, the County Executive suggested the pickleball courts be moved closer to the clubhouse the next time improvements were made at the complex.
This project includes resurfacing the courts in the complex, relocating the pickleball courts next to the clubhouse and increasing the number from six to eight and reducing the number of tennis courts from nine to eight, installing new fencing, netting and sports lighting.
The pickleball courts in Essex County Brookdale Park were the first ones created in the Essex County Parks System. They have since been added at the Althea Gibson Tennis Complex in Essex County Branch Brook Park and Essex Grover Cleveland Park. Additional pickleball courts will be created in Essex County Verona Park, which are striped for both tennis and pickleball, and Essex County Glenfield Park in Montclair.
Barreto Dowd Landscape Architecture and Site Planning from Howell was awarded a professional contract for $80,005 to design the improvements. ZN Construction LLC from Saddle Brook was awarded a publicly bid contract for $2,077,000 to perform the construction work. The Essex County Department of Public Works will monitor the project so delays are avoided. Grants from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund and the American Rescue Plan were used to fund the improvements. It is scheduled to be completed end of 2023.
Revitalizing Essex County Brookdale Park
DiVincenzo’s administration has completed several improvement projects in Brookdale Park as part of a comprehensive initiative to revitalize the Essex County Park System.
The synthetic grass field and rubberized running track in the Oval were completed in May 2004 and was updated with new grass and rubberized surfaces in 2014. In 2006, the meadow underwent an extensive $1.15 million renovation that included the installation of new drainage and irrigation systems, the planting of sod on the entire meadow surface and the modernization of the baseball/softball field in the northern section of the meadow. The development of the Brookdale Dog Park and the reconstruction of the 11-court tennis facility were completed in November 2007. In 2009, the Circuit Drive, the parking lots and the walking paths throughout the park were repaved. In 2014, a three-phase project to install 148 light poles at the park entranceways and around the walking paths and an 18-station fitness course were completed. In 2015, the playground was updated with new climbing apparatus and a rubberized safety surface. In 2018, the welcome center received a comprehensive upgrade and in 2019 the tennis court complex was resurfaced and the county’s first pickleball courts were created. In 2022, a permanent bandstand/open air pavilion to be used as a stage for the Essex County Summer Concert Series was built. In 2023, the three softball/Little League fields in the northern section of the park were updated with synthetic playing surfaces on the infield portions of the fields. These projects were funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund. DiVincenzo has established partnerships with the Montclair United Soccer and the Brookdale Park Conservancy to obtain the grant funding.
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, golf driving range, two miniature golf courses, fIve off-leash dog facilities, a castle and the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens. At 121.41 acres, Brookdale Park is the third largest park in the Essex County System. Land for the park was purchased between 1928 and 1931.