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Man proposes new park
(by Joe Olivieri - September 18, 2008)
It’s been a Victorian farmhouse, a proposed museum site and a vacant lot in the heart of Verona’s central business district.
Could “vest-pocket park” join that list someday?
Resident Gerald Caprio advocated turning 623 Bloomfield Ave., a private property, into public parkland to “add to Verona’s diminishing green spaces,” according to his eight-page proposal obtained by the Times.
To pay for it, he suggested obtaining state grants, which would require “little to no municipal expenditures” from Verona.
“There is no reason why our town cannot beat out a developer or developers in seeking title to this prime real estate,” the proposal states.
Caprio made his case to the Verona Township Council at its meeting Monday.
Township Manager Joseph Martin, however, said the parcel next to the former International House of Pancakes is in the process of being sold, as well as being tested by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
He planned to look into Caprio’s proposal.
“It has been approved by the [Verona] Planning Board, and there is a willing buyer and seller out there,” Martin said.
Caprio’s proposal includes a sketch of the current property and two hand-drawn park schematics.
The first depicts twin gravel paths leading to a 260-foot paved circle surrounded by four benches and new trees.
The second shows winding gravel paths leading to a flag pole and a “Simonson House Interpretive Monument.” A koi pond, rock garden, graded and seeded landscape and tree screen also appear on the drawing.
“Choices of materials could range from minimal to extravagant,” it states.
The lot had also been vacant in 1869, when local blacksmith John Simonson built a three-bay, Victorian style house there. He ran his blacksmith shop where the IHOP would later stand.
After his death, a cross gable addition was added around 1890, according to historian Robert Williams.
The house remained largely unaltered until the early 2000s.
Property records state that Kenneth Pecoraro sold the property to 623-627 Bloomfield Avenue Associates on Dec. 15, 2004.
The Verona Historical Society advocated moving the farmhouse to the Wheaton Tract, the former site of Dr. Henry Whitehorne’s home on Grove Avenue, at a cost of $40,000 to $60,000 to the township. The society proposed grants and private donations would cover all other expenses, including a historic resources survey and restoring utilities and interiors.
Historical society members, including its president, Caprio, campaigned to raise public support, but Martin vetoed the idea for liability reasons.
“I praise the work you’ve done… but as the manager, it’s a no-go for me,” he told the society in August 2006. “The financial future is a liability to the township. I don’t think it’s prudent to assume revenue projections will occur. There are no funds for it.”
The farmhouse was demolished in December 2006.
In his proposal, Caprio claims that since the demolition, “the property was put up for sale after an initial developer apparently backed down of a proposed ‘mini-mall’ design he had proposed.”
“When an inquiry regarding the property was made to the town council several weeks ago, it was reported that there were no plans at that time to develop it,” it reads.
Some have suggested building a parking lot in the area as well.
As for his rationale, Caprio said Verona is “almost completely developed” and that a park would add “especially in the area between Verona Park and the ongoing developments on the Hilltop area.”
He argued that the municipality bought the former Verona Service League property and preserving green space would be worthy of consideration.
The resident also named several municipal and regional groups who could possibly help develop the park, including the Verona Environmental Commission, the Greater Newark Conservancy and the Essex County Chapter of the Sierra Club.
“Remember that is a very preliminary proposal, which I sincerely hope can be made possible, to the great benefit of our town and its people,” he said in his closing statement.
He reiterated the thought when addressing the council and asked for its members’ consideration.
“I’m retired, and when you’re single like me, you end up walking around a lot. Whenever I go to the bank, I see the lot and think that would make a great park,” he said.
“I’d like to see more green area,” he later added. “It could really be, and pardon the pun, a grassroots effort. But I’m a dreamer and a schemer; I don’t know what the tax situation is.”
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