July is national parks and recreation month – which makes it a perfect time to highlight the parks in West Orange.
We are blessed to have many great outdoor spaces in town. There are three major county parks (South Mountain Reservation, the Zoo Complex, and Eagle Rock Reservation), a national park (Thomas Edison), and numerous playgrounds and fields at our schools. That’s not to mention the various golf courses, public and private, scattered throughout town.
As a municipality, we maintain eleven parks of varying size. Some of them are large and well known. Others are well kept secrets, tucked away in a neighborhood. I noticed some parks that I didn’t know about – and that aren’t mentioned on the town’s website – while I was running every street in town.
This month, I went back around to visit each one – to take stock of what’s available and think about where we could make minor improvements. Here’s a rundown of the parks throughout town. Each one is labeled on the map below.
Degnan Park
We’ll start at the north end of town and work down from there. Degnan Park, along with the high school sports complex, is one of the jewels of our parks system. It’s got a little bit of everything.
The focal point is Vincent’s Pond. There’s a fishing dock, and there’s also a walking path around the pond with benches spread throughout. It’s a nice, shady place to go for a walk or sit and read a book.
There’s also a playground on Alisa Drive for the little kids. In the back, by Carteret Street, you’ll find the Toby Katz Center and the UNICO Nicholas Vecchio Garden. There’s something for all ages here, and it’s often a bevy of activity.
One thing that needs work, though, is the path around the pond. It’s deteriorating, and the uneven surface isn’t good for strollers or wheelchairs.
There are two water fountains – one on Alisa Drive by the playground and the other at back near Carteret Street. But neither of them work.
There’s also a little free library on Alisa Drive. It could use a re-stock, though. There aren’t a ton of books in there.
O’ Connor Park
Southwest of Degnan Park, behind Mt. Pleasant Elementary, is O’ Connor Park. This is another large park with many amenities.
There are a variety of sports fields and courts here – including tennis courts, squash courts, a basketball court, a skate rink, and multiple fields. I ran through on a Sunday morning, and it was buzzing.
Up top by the fields, there’s also a playground. There’s a little free library with a decent stock of books, but in need of a little TLC. There’s also a water fountain that works – although the water pressure is ridiculously high.
The main areas of concern here would be the bathrooms, which were locked up with an “out of order sign,” and the paved path heading southwest out of the park. The pavement is very eroded, and it would be unsafe for wheelchairs and strollers.
Minish Park
Minish Park is a small neighborhood park off of Buckingham Drive. It’s not listed on the town’s website with the other parks, and I first noticed it when I ran through the neighborhood on my mission to run every street in town.
It’s a nice, basic park – with a playground, a couple benches, and a big multi-purpose field. It’s a little barebones, but it gets the job done.
One thing that’s missing: a bathroom. There’s neither a permanent building nor a porta-potty here. Most of the people using the park are probably from the immediate neighborhood, but the far end of the neighborhood is a half mile away on foot.
There’s also a lot of dead space in the northwest corner of the park. It could be a simple picnic area or a small community garden.
Colgate Field
East of Minish Park is the town’s other major park – Colgate Field.
This park is next to Ginny Duenkel pool, so bathrooms are available up in the parking lot. There’s ample parking around the perimeter. There’s a big baseball field, some basketball courts, and a playground.
This is a large park, conveniently located on the edge of downtown. It’s a great choice for large community gatherings, like the first Juneteenth Celebration that the town held back in 2020. The 4th of July Celebration might draw a bigger crowd if it were held here instead of up at the high school.
One minor thing that needs addressed: there are two water fountains at the corners of the park near Franklin Avenue. Neither of them work. These would be really useful for people running a loop through town. There is also a little free library in the pool parking lot, but it looked pretty barren when I ran through this week. It could use a restocking.
Byrne Park
South of Colgate Field on the other side of Washington Street is Byrne Park. Like Minish Park, it’s a small park nestled in a neighborhood.
It’s a fenced in area with a playground and an empty field. It’s perfect if you live in the area and want to walk with your small child to the playground. But otherwise, the space feels a little underutilized. There are also no bathrooms or porta-potties here.
The northeast end of the park is also just dead space. This is another opportunity for something like a picnic area. Even a couple picnic tables would be a cheap, simple addition.
Lafayette Park
Head west down Main Street and you’ll come to Lafayette Park at the corner of Park Ave.
It’s a little bigger than Byrne Park, but otherwise similar – a playground and a fenced in field. This is the park that’s most recently been done, and the playground is brand new as of a couple months ago. Unlike Byrne, this park does feature a field house at the southwest corner on Ashland Ave.
Jenkins Park
Southwest of there is the final park down in the Valley area – Jenkins Park. It might be better known to some people as the “skate park.”
It’s in the valley, tucked away behind the Fire Department at the end of Rose Terrace. There’s a playground for the little kids and a skate park for the big kids.
An issue that came up at a recent Council meeting was graffiti in the area. It’s a challenge to keep the area clean – but also possible an opportunity to engage some of our artistic youth in a graffiti contest of sorts.
Susan O. Borg Park
If you head west up Northfield, you’ll reach Susan O. Borg Park – which was known as Ridgeway Park until recently. This is a quiet open space outside of the Empty Cloud Monastery.
There’s a circular path you can walk around and a large open space. People often walk with their dogs and their children through here. There’s also a pergola in the back if you just want a quiet place to sit and read.
One creative thing happening here right now: the story walk. The West Orange Public Library used lawn signs to post the pages of a children’s book, so you can read the story with your child as you walk around the loop.
It’s a great opportunity of something cheap and easy that can be added to enhance a park. Something similar could easily be done at some of the other parks – whether it’s a children’s story or something else posted on the lawn signs.
Stagg Field
Further west along Northfield Ave is Stagg Field. It’s a big area open area across the street from St. Cloud.
The main field is very busy during soccer season. But there’s also a basketball court in the back that gets a lot of use, along with a relatively new playground. The building here does have bathrooms. At one point they were locked up and inaccessible, but they’re once again open to the public.
This field sees a lot of use. I don’t think there’s a water fountain outside the bathrooms – but this would be a great place to add one.
The Bel Air Playground
Up along Haggerty Drive, behind Vizcaya, is a tiny little playground. This is another park that I never noticed until I started running each street in town.
When I first saw it, I wondered whether or not it was a municipal park. Like Minish, it’s not listed on the website. But at the budget hearing for the recreation department, it was listed as one of the towns parks.
Boland Park
Last but not least, Boland Park is at the end of Dogwood Drive. It’s off the beaten path near the border of Livingston. There are a couple small neighborhoods within walking distance, but most people would have to go out of their way to get here.
It’s got a basketball court, a field, and a nice playground. There was a well stocked and clean porta-potty, which was a step up from some of the other smaller parks in town.
What’s Your Favorite Park?
I probably spend the most time at a county park – the Orange Reservoir. But after that, I’m most likely to frequent Stagg Field. It’s a nice place to walk my dog, and it’s not nearly as busy as the loop at the Reservoir.
We have a ton of great parks in town, but we also have potential to improve them. We’ve been going through the motions of upgrading each of the playgrounds, and that’s the most obvious way to freshen up a park. But there are lots of little ways to make a park more useful and engaging.
O’ Connor Park and Colgate Field have little free libraries, but this is an easy upgrade that immediately makes a park more useful. When you walk there to exercise your dog or your children, you can also stop to find something to read. The book walk at Susan O. Borg Park is another creative way to create an engaging, educational experience.
Most of the parks have porta-potties or bathrooms, but we should ensure that every one does. It’s a little thing, but you’ll appreciate a clean bathroom when you need it. It’s one of the things that makes Essex County Parks so great.
Speaking of the Essex County Parks, they all have picnic areas. Those are notably absent from our parks. There aren’t even picnic tables to sit down and eat a meal that you packed, let alone outdoor grills.
Water fountains are also important. We can’t install them at every park, but where they exist we should make sure that they function.
What’s your favorite park – and what would make your experience there better? Drop me a note here to let me know and stay in touch with the campaign.