Newark approves project to improve Dickey Park

Long-awaited upgrades are finally coming to one of Newark’s most-used parks.

On Monday, city council awarded a nearly $500,000 contract for improvements at Dickey Park to Merit Construction.

The city previously paid an additional $70,000 for engineering services. The project is being funded by federal and state grants.

“This has been a long time coming, and I am more than overjoyed to see that area really mature into what it needs to be for the constituents and everybody else in Newark that visits that park,” said Councilwoman Dwendolyn Creecy, who lives in the College Park neighborhood that surrounds the park.

Dickey Park was built in 1963 after the city acquired the 8.2 acres for $10 from the developer of College Park. It is named for the late Edna C. Dickey, a longtime Newark Post journalist who helped start the Newark Area Welfare Committee and was a leader in several other local nonprofits.

The park currently features a public swimming pool, community garden, playground, basketball court, baseball field, street hockey courts, horseshoe courts and pavilions with picnic tables. It is often used to host events, such as community outreach efforts by the Newark Police Department and Newark Parks and Recreation programming.

All those amenities will remain, though officials plan to install a new swing set and a new pavilion.

Plans also call for the construction of a 0.4-mile paved walking path around the perimeter of the park. The path will include new benches and will connect to the pavilions, playground and other amenities, providing accessibility for park users who have mobility issues.

Officials plan to remove an under-utilized paved area between the basketball courts and street hockey court and turn it into a central gathering area — a grassy space with benches where people can gather to watch a game, have a picnic or hold an event.

Another new amenity will be fitness equipment, similar to fitness stations that have been installed over the past few years in other parks and along the James Hall Trail.

New habitat gardens will beautify the park and make it more hospitable to birds, insects and other local wildlife.

A completion date for the work has not yet been announced.