Church Square Park
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Church_Square_park_pic.jpg
Detail
The park has a fireman statue in the western part of the park and a veteran statue in the eastern part. There is a Gazebo in the center. The playground and swings are slightly southeast of the Gazebo, and there are also 5 fields, a dog run and many bushes. Recently, "no ball playing" signs have been put up in the fields to keep the grass in good shape.
In 1994, the wooden playground that had been in place for a long time was destroyed and replaced with a safer, more packaged playground (see picture). The newer playground has been in the park for 11 years and has remained practically unchanged since it was built in the mid-90's.
In 2005, a memorial grove, containing trees dedicated to a fire victim, was uplifted and moved to a less attractive part of the park to make way for a toddler playground, despite public opposition. Questions have been raised about the toddler playground's necessity, and those opposed to the project argue that there is no need for it since there already are 2 playgrounds within Church Square park. They also argue that the new toddler playground is an eyesore and has removed too much open space (there used to be 6 major fields, and now there are only 5 because of the toddler playground). In March 2005, the oldest tree in Church Square Park was killed because it was in the way of the construction of the toddler playground. Also, it is believed that David Roberts, the mayor of Hoboken, funded the project to help him get re-elected in May. Despite the toddler playground's controversial status and public disapproval, it is planned to be finished by the end of April, 2005.