Hoboken releases online survey for feedback on 800 Monroe Resiliency Park concepts

The City of Hoboken has released an online survey to solicit community feedback on the two new draft concepts for 800 Monroe Resiliency Park.

By John Heinis/Hudson County

The draft concepts include tennis courts, pickleball courts, dog runs, passive lawn space, native gardens, a spray area, and more.

Public input collected from the survey will inform the final design concept for the park which will be presented to the public this fall. To take the online survey, click here. The survey will close on Friday, September 1st, at 6 p.m.

“Few cities have any resiliency parks, this will be our fourth to combat flooding that regularly impacts residents of West Hoboken,” Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in a statement.

“I thank the residents who have provided valuable input into the latest designs, which will be incorporated into the park’s amenities.”

The park at 800 Monroe St. will utilize up to $15 million in community benefit payments from the 930 Monroe St. redevelopment to offset a large portion of the construction and design costs.

While a community pool was contemplated during the initial concept design iterations, it was determined that the 800 Monroe St. project site was not suitable for a pool after further analysis by project engineers.

Due to existing site conditions, locating a pool at this site would require elevating it above the adjacent sidewalk grade and constructing extensive subsurface support systems to manage the weight of the pool.

The addition of these design constraints, among others, would significantly reduce the future park’s stormwater detention capacity and significantly increase the cost of construction.

Instead, the City is moving forward with the creation of a public pool as a part of the Multi-Service Center redesign project.

The two latest draft design approaches for the 800 Monroe Resiliency Park, Meandering Trails and Linear Trails, further refine an initial draft concept presented during an April community meeting as “Concept 1: A Hybrid Approach, With Tennis and Pickleball Courts” based on public feedback.

The Meandering Trails and Linear Trails designs both incorporate the same features but differ in their approach to the park’s layout and circulation.

The designs each contain various amenities including tennis and pickleball courts, separate dog runs for small and large dogs, experiential gardens, stepped seating, interactive water features, a passive lawn space, and shade canopy structures.

The Meandering Trails Approach locates the three tennis courts and six pickleball courts in the southern half of the park adjacent to Eighth Street between Jackson Street and Monroe Street.

Two dog runs would abut the courts to the north followed by a sloped passive lawn space.

An entry plaza with stepped seating and interactive water features would be along Jackson Street north of the courts and an experiential garden on the northeastern portion of the lot along Monroe Street.

The park’s features would be connected by a series of curved pathways that create meandering walking routes and establish greater separation between each park use.

Finally, a curved cloud-like shade canopy that could support vertical plant growth would provide partial coverage over many of the park’s walkways and plazas.

The Linear Trails Approach locates the three tennis courts and six pickleball courts to the northern half of the property with plantings and a flat passive lawn space to the south.

The large and small dog runs would run parallel to Jackson Street on the southern end of the park. The entry plaza with stepped seating and interactive water feature would be located on Eighth Street and the experiential garden would be located on Monroe Street.

The park’s features would be connected by a series of linear pathways that create quick and efficient travel routes and clearer sightlines between each park use.

A geometric shade canopy that could similarly support vertical plant growth would provide partial coverage over select portions of the park’s walkways.

Additionally, the proposed design approaches incorporate sound mitigation measures to minimize noise impacts to nearby residences that may be caused by the park’s activities, such as tennis and pickleball.

Following Hoboken City Council approval of the final concept design for 800 Monroe Resiliency Park, the city’s project team will conduct an engineering study to determine the park’s stormwater detention capacity.