The Jersey Journal
State axes Park Development Corp.
Liberty State Park advocates cheer move
Friday, April 25, 2003

By Jason Fink
Journal staff writer
The controversial Liberty State Park Development Corp., which has drawn fire for its various plans for commercial development in the Jersey City park over the years, has been abolished by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Responding to persistent objections from local (should have said "and statewide") activists to the 17-year-old corporation's management of the park and its push for projects ranging from a golf course to an aquatic center, DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell said yesterday that the corporation will relinquish all its interests in the 1,122-acre( reporter forgot to say 590 above water) park by June 30.
"I have shared the public's concerns that conflicts between the corporation and park stewards have hampered progress in achieving our goals for the park," said Campbell. "This change is overdue."
As part of a new policy directive issued yesterday, the DEP will form a public advisory committee to help make decisions on matters ranging from summer events to the future of large swaths of undeveloped land.
Though he did not say who will be on the committee, Campbell said it would be "a broadly represented group" and that officials will make sure "constituents from Hudson County are represented."
Sam Pesin, president of the Friends of Liberty State Park and a vocal critic of the Development Corp. since it was formed in 1986, praised Campbell and Gov. James E. McGreevey for the decision.
"They've blown away the dark cloud of privatization over this sacred and scarce open space," said Pesin, whose late father Morris Pesin came up with the idea for the park and helped bring it into being in 1976. "People's enjoyment of and access to Liberty State Park year-long now have a stronger protection."
Pesin said more than 5,000 e-mails and postcards were sent to McGreevey urging him to abolish the corporation.
Established as a public-private partnership charged with recommending ways to develop the park, the Development Corp. acted as the landlord for the Liberty Landing Marina and the Liberty Science Center and collected parking fees from the two private lots.
It also put on such events as the Cirque du Soleil in 2001 and an Andrea Boccelli concert in 2000. Plans for permanent entertainment venues in the park have included a golf course, a doll museum and a commercial amphitheater.
Those ideas met with large-scale opposition from local residents and were eventually defeated.
Beginning June 30, the state will take over all the corporation's leases and collect parking fees directly, which will be used to pay the debt service on bonds for park improvements.
In April, Campbell told the Development Corp. that its contract would be terminated if it could not account for what he said was "consistent under-collection of rental fees" that cost the state $833,328.
Campbell said yesterday the issue had been resolved and that the decision to terminate the corporation was "more about a vision for the park's future than management."
The chairman of the corporation, Richard McGlynn, could not be reached for comment.
As part of its policy directive, the DEP has suggested improving roads in the park and possibly starting shuttle bus service.
Campbell (reporter didn't know that shuttle bus service started 3 years ago) also said some "active recreation" like ball fields would be considered and that the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra would be asked to participate in cultural events.
Already underway are plans to create wetlands (reporter forgot to say with nature trails) on a 251-acre parcel of land inside the park.
A committee, similar in makeup to what Campbell suggested for the new park advisory panel, is working with members of the Army Corps of Engineers to create channels from the Hudson River to produce a tidal flow in that area, just east of the Liberty Science Center.
Those first channels are expected to be dug within the next few years, said Greg Remaud, president of the Liberty State Park Conservancy and a member of the committee, which also includes federal and state officials.
Remaud said the advisory panel envisioned by the DEP would go a long way toward coordinating future plans for the park and bringing together the sometimes disparate interests of park employees, citizens, environmentalists and the few business interests that will remain, such as the boat marina and the water taxi service that runs from the park.
"We're thrilled," Remaud said yesterday of the decision about the Development Corp. "What this does is it takes the management and direction of Liberty State Park out of the hands of the special interests and back into the hands of park professionals."
Jason Fink can be reached at jfink@jjournal.com

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