Washington Street to Gain 'Pocket Park'

Morris County will construct a small urban park on the site of a Washington Street building once the 50-year-old brick structure has been demolished.

County Engineer Stephen Hammond outlined the plans Thursday, March 24, before the Planning Board on the property. The county does not need town approval of the plans, but it must obtain town permits for the demolition and construction.

Hammond told the board that the project is currently out to bid and demolition could begin as early as May.

He said the county has no plans for the site, and no funds are set aside in the county’s capital spending plan for any project related to the property at the corner of Washington Street and Schuyler Place. The site abuts a county parking lot and the .

“It’s possible that 20 years from now people will still have a park on that site,” Hammond said.

Desmond Lloyd, owner of the Grand Café, said the removal of the building will mean that his café will be among the first things that drivers and pedestrians turning on to Washington Street near the Green will see.

Lloyd said there are plans to make improvements to the café’s wall that will be exposed by the demolition.

Hammond said the plans for an “urban green space” or "pocket park" call for retaining a 2-to-3 foot wall along Washington Street to separate the park from the sidewalk, and a line of shrubs on Washington, Schuyler and along the parking lot, plus several trees edging the parking lot facing Schuyler.

Hammond said that Lloyd asked that a wall between the Washington Street building and his café be removed, which the county will do. In its place will be a dense row of evergreens to act as a screen for restaurant patrons.

The park will include four benches, grassy areas, and for a different look and texture, an area that Hammond said they hope to build using a new material instead of gravel.

The new material is a mixture of rubber from old tires, aggregate (stone) and a binder, and is designed for quick drainage. It can be designed with any color desired, Hammond said.

He said the material appears to be a good alternative to adding any more impervious surface to the area. The construction of the park will also address a drainage issue on the sidewalk and parking lot that leaves sheets of water on the walkway.

“We see this as an area for passive recreation,” Hammond said.

The Washington Building was first used as an office building, but mostly recently for storage.

The county has created new storage facilities in the former Central Avenue Complex, once a part of Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital at The Central Park of Morris County in Parsippany. A 2006 study of the Washington Building determined that it would cost more to rehabilitate the structure than tear it down.

The project is being funded through a $297,000 federal grant that must be used by September.