Video: Sounding open space campaign theme, Morristown mayor breaks ground at Speedwell park

Morristown Council Members Toshiba Foster and Sandi Mayer, town Administrator Jillian Barrick and Mayor Tim Dougherty break ground for Speedwell park, April 9, 2021. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Sounding a campaign theme of open space, Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty on Friday broke ground for a Speedwell Avenue park that’s been on the drawing board since at least 2015.

“So many people enjoy this open space that Morristown is bringing to our community. And we will continue to do that in the future, we hope,” Dougherty said, citing other conservation projects in town.

Scheduled for completion in August 2021, the sub-acre Speedwell tract will have a “rock scramble” and slide for kids, ping pong- and chess tables, a grassy lawn, and a “public art installation.”

Video: Speedwell park finally getting off the ground:

The parcel is bounded by Speedwell Avenue, Prospect Street, Clinton Place, and the Modera 44 and 55 apartment buildings, which were part of a broader Speedwell redevelopment plan.

Mill Creek Residential, the apartments’ developer, has been a partner in the park project — though the extent of that partnership has drawn fire from Esperanza Porras-Field, Dougherty’s opponent in the June 8 Democratic primary.

She contends the Dougherty administration has overspent on the project, while letting Mill Creek off the hook for promised shared maintenance of the park.

Dougherty, who is seeking a fourth term, on Friday referred questions about those particulars to town Administrator Jillian Barrick.

Barrick said the town opted for a trade-off.  Instead of making a $250,000 contribution in five years, with shared maintenance thereafter, Mill Creek is paying the town $100,000, plus an “in kind contribution” of $300,000 to grade and seed the park.

“So the trade-off was to get immediate value, which was in excess of what we would have been paid five years from now. I think that was absolutely in the best interests of the town,” said Barrick, who grabbed a shovel along with Council Members Toshiba Foster and Sandi Mayer and the mayor for the ceremonial groundbreaking.

She said estimates of the town’s maintenance costs would come after completion of the park. “I don’t expect long-range costs to be exorbitant,” she said, asserting the town’s public works department probably can handle the work.  Plans call for plantings of native species, which also should minimize upkeep costs, she said.

Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin. Click / hover on images for captions:

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The town council authorized an $818,000 contract last fall with Ralph Checchio Inc. for park construction. About $250,000 of that is from Mill Creek, Barrick said.

She listed two reasons for project delays. Renowned designer Ken Smith created a “beautiful” design in 2017, but construction bids topped $2 million. So SALT Design Studios and Dewberry engineering were hired to scale down the plans. Workshops solicited public input for both rounds.

Putting things in automotive terms, Barrick compared the original plans to a Bentley. Now, the design is more like a “decent mid-entry Lincoln, or maybe a good quality Ford…I think we still have a beautiful park that’s within the budget.”

Barrick said the other reason for project delays involved access from Speedwell Avenue.

Access was envisioned through property owned by Paul Marshall, and the park was placed on hold in anticipation of finalizing those details, Barrick said.

But Marshall is suing the town in a dispute over his property, and his own attempts to erect apartments on the Modera site.

An alley now provides park access from Speedwell Avenue.

Representatives of Dewberry and Mill Creek attended Friday’s event, along with members of the town Shade Tree and Environmental commissions, the Morristown Housing Authority, and the nonprofit Grow It Green Morristown.

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