By DAVID CRUZ, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, NJ Spotlight
A long-awaited plan for a facelift of Liberty State Park was unveiled by Shawn LaTourette, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection. In three phases, the facelift will begin this fall with the cleanup of the park’s 230-acre-plus contaminated interior, which will be turned into an urban park with wetlands and tree canopy.
During an open house on Wednesday night, LaTourette said there would be no commercialization or privatization in the park’s future. “It’s a crown gem of our state park system, but if we’re honest it’s a rough cut gem, one that we will fashion together and shine together to better serve the needs of all of our families,” LaTourette said.
“I think it’s awesome that they’re going to clean up the park finally. I mean it’s been like 60 years we’ve been living around this contamination so I think that’s a plus for the area and the environment. I also think that adding active recreation is a plus as well,” said Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker.
