Front Entrance to Proposed Expansion of Environmental Education Center
Rearview of Proposed Expansion of Environmental Education Center
Graduate students from the Bloustein School of Planning and Policy at Rutgers University have proposed a significant upgrade to the Eugene Young Environmental Education Center (EEC) building, river access, and further remediation of the Native Plant Reserve.
On May 3, they gave a presentation on their project to Borough Council. The presentation is available here HPPresentation.
The above figures show the concept design for the enlarged EEC, which would accomodate up to 55 people compared to the current 19 people.
The complete report can be found here Highland Park WaterFront Restoration.
The Highland Park Environmental Commission thanks the graduate students and the Rutgers Bloustein School for Planning and Policy for their comprehensive conceptual plan for the building, remediation, river access, permitting with regulatory agencies, and public outreach.
Wonderful, wonderful, thunderingly wonderful! This looks like a serious, workable, long-term vision. I see so much here that was already once on the mind of the original Environmental Centers Working Group that I chaired so long ago. But so much had to be dropped: floating dock, pedestrian river access, restoration plantings including native grasses, planted beds along center walls, LED lighting, parking upgrade, the intended covering for the shade structure, etc. Either the original grant didn’t cover the cost, or we had the money but the confusion about soil quality meant that the Borough didn’t activate the grants and the approved plans that we DID HAVE ON HAND. Rather sad. The Borough should now do a thorough check of what might still be available (e.g. I recall a “sculpture garden” grant for paths and plantings in the already remediated area; a grant redirected from the Edison Wetlands Association for placing sample solar panels on the shade structure, meant to mix with opaque shade panels till we got full solar funding; also perhaps agreements with DEP on soil remediation costs that Mayor Frank thought would be obtained way back then). And since the new study mentions the Lower Meadows in the larger picture, let’s see if we can get the Upper Meadows finally finally rezoned to conservation as mentioned in the last Master Plan update: it becomes grant eligible if rezoned, it frees space for the greenway and national bike trail, and it costs us nothing! I may have moved away, but I’ll be watching here for news. My heart’s been in this since the day long ago when I first suggested applying for the DEP land swap that got the Borough to switch the site to open space zoning, and I hope to hear of rapid progress.