Project Improves Wheelchair Access to Grover Cleveland Park

New parkings spaces, a paved path and a picnic area are part of a $155,000 project to make Essex County Grover Cleveland Park more accessible to people with disabilities, county officials announced Monday. 

Work began about a week ago to add two van-accessible parking spaces on Buttonwood Court at the Essex Fells end of the park. The spaces are compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA), as are the other improvements underway. A paved path from the parking spaces which leads to a blacktop area where handicap-accessible picnic tables soon will be installed. There will also be new signage and landscaping.

The improvements were designed by the Essex County Department of Public Works engineering staff and Sita Construction from Kearny was awarded a competitively bid contract for $115,340 to perform the construction, according to county officials.

The project is funded by a NJ Green Acres grant received by the Grover Cleveland Park Conservancy and a grant from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund.

Grover Cleveland Park is the latest park in the county system to be upgraded  to meet ADA regulations, Essex County Executive Joseph N. Divincenzo said Monday.

“When it was brought to our attention that changes were needed to make Grover Cleveland Park more accessible for people with disabilities, we moved ahead to make the improvements," DiVincenzo said in a release. "Revitalizing our parks and making sure they meet the needs of the community have been priorities of my administration so that everyone has access to open space and recreation." 

The news conference was attended by Essex County District 4 Freeholder Leonard Luciano, as well as Claudia Kolster and Paul Boeckel, president and vice president, respectively, of the Grover Cleveland Park Conservancy. 

The improvements to the parking lot and picnic area “are part of our ongoing partnership with the Essex County Park System," Kolster said.

The conservancy is celebrating the park's 100th anniversary in 2013, with various events planned throughout the year, including a concert with The Kootz on Aug. 1 and the Centennial Celebration on Sept. 21.

For information on the conservancy, visit www.groverclevelandpark.org.