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The Star Ledger 04/27/95

LIBERTY PARK PLAN TO OPEN NEW AREAS TO PUBLIC

AL FRANK The development plan Gov. Christie Whitman chose for Liberty State Park instead of a golf course will take several years to implement but will finally open areas off-limits to the public since the Jersey City park's dedication 19 years ago. During past harbor celebrations, such as those marking the end of the Statue of Liberty's restoration in 1986 and the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage in 1992, most of the thousands of visitors who wanted to picnic or watch fireworks were squeezed into two parcels at the park's northern and southern ends. That will change dramatically under Whitman's plan when a 145-acre section on the waterfront immediately behind the statue and Ellis Island is landscaped into broad lawns, meadows and walking paths. Across Freedom Way, which bisects the 578-acre park, the 225-acre section proposed for the 18-hole public course is now to be covered with dirt already being brought to the park by trains from a wetlands mitigation project in Wayne. Eventually trees and grass will be planted and a few trails built, said James Hall, the assistant Department of Environmental Protection commissioner in charge of the state parks system. But the site, which includes 35 acres of wetlands, will be devoid of most other amenities. ''We look to have the area vegetated naturally,'' he said yesterday. ''There might be trails but no ballfields.'' Bulldozers could begin spreading soil later this year, after the DEP finalizes plans to use a foot of dirt to cap the heavy metals that contaminate underlying cinder fill. The contamination was left from the property's century of service as a rail yard. Hall said work on some of the 145 waterfront acres will probably not begin until next year, assuming voters approve the Green Acres bond issue from which Whitman earmarked $6 million for the job. As much as $7 million is needed to implement portions of a 1988 Wallace Roberts & Todd plan the state intended to follow for the mile-long expanse of open space, Hall said. Although the consultant estimated it would cost $14 million to implement the plan - excluding a proposed amphitheater - Hall explained the DEP is figuring on spending only half the amount at first because plans for a cleanup of a 13-acre section contaminated with chromium trailings have not even been devised. Funding sources must still be identified for a $4 million project to install heating and air conditioning and make improvements required by building codes in the landmark Central Railroad of New Jersey terminal. ''It's certainly not the end, but it sets in place the framework of what we expect (the park) to be,'' Whitman provided no hints yesterday when she confirmed her intent to kill the golf course plan. The Governor said she was moved by overwhelming public sentiment against the project. She also said the ''numbers were not as good as we thought they would be'' in the proposal to use Economic Development Authority bonds to build the course and fund other park improvements. Among those praising Whitman's decision was Tim Dillingham of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. ''It's a good ecological decision for her and reaffirms the process that people can speak out on issues and the Governor is listening to them,'' he said.