In a continued effort to transform the former Union Dry Dock Site into a public waterfront park, Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla announced today that the City has awarded a contract to Dattner Architects to lead a robust planning process on the conceptual design of Maritime Park. The Bhalla administration will task the design firm to conduct multiple public meetings to solicit input from the community for the ultimate park design. The Hoboken City Council approved the contract with Dattner Architects by a unanimous vote at yesterday evening's Council meeting.
This spring, Dattner Architects and members of the administration will host its first community meeting with the primary objective of soliciting potential features of the park, which will be utilized to create two design options for the waterfront park. Additional digital surveys, stakeholder outreach, and community feedback will also be utilized to create the design options, which will then be narrowed to one final concept design.
The Hoboken City Council also approved a lease with New York Waterway, which will temporarily utilize Union Dry Dock for limited ferry maintenance while the City undergoes the design process.
“After five long, hard years of fighting to save the Union Dry Dock site, Hoboken has finally turned the corner to focus on what we’ve wanted all along – the design of a publicly accessible waterfront park,” said Mayor Bhalla. “Maritime Park will truly be the people’s park and will reflect what our residents want to see as we collaborate on a world-class park for all to enjoy. I encourage residents to stay tuned for the date of this first community meeting we will be hosting with Dattner Architects.”
As provided in an update to the public on Monday, the approved lease between the City and NYWW stipulates a number of measures and regulations that will allow the City to begin building the park soon after the design is completed. The City will then begin construction on the land at the former Union Dry Dock site that NYWW will not be utilizing and then continue with construction on the remaining site once NYWW vacates the land, as specified in the terms of the lease.
For more information on the lease with NYWW, go to https://local.nixle.com/alert/9921545/ for the prior communication from Mayor Bhalla to the Hoboken public.
The City will announce the date and time of the first community meeting for the park's design in the coming weeks.
The Hoboken City Council adopted the lease agreement via a 7-2 vote on Feb. 15. Councilmembers Emily Jabbour, Michael Russo, Jim Doyle, Phil Cohen, Mike DeFusco, and Joe Quintero voted in favor of the agreement and Tiffanie Fisher and Jen Giattino voted against the agreement.
