from JERSEY JOURNAL

Friday, July 31, 2009

By AMY SARA CLARK

JERSEY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A plan is on the way for transforming Reservoir No. 3 into a park while preserving its historic structures. A $355,601 contract with the Pennsylvania-based John Milner Associates to produce the plan has been approved by the Jersey City City Council.

Journal File Photo

As part of the study, the firm will help the city apply to put the unused reservoir on the National Register of Historic Places, which will allow the city to apply for other grants to preserve buildings on the grounds.

Creation of the park - which will include hiking trails and amenities for boating and fishing - could take seven to 10 years and cost about $10 million, says Glenn Wrigley, the city’s chief architect.

The study will also provide the city and the volunteer Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance with a report on current site and structural conditions, including site ecology, and will document the history of the reservoir, which was built between 1871 and 1874.

The Alliance fully backs the choice, saying the firm offers the perfect combination of price and experience, said Cynthia Hadjiyannis, the group’s treasurer.

John Milner Associates will be working with the Brooklyn-based landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, which has done Hoboken’s Pier C and Teardrop parks and New York City’s Union Square.

click here to read the Alliance press release