Workshops

Summary of 1st Community Meeting / Open House

The first Community Meeting of the project was held on April 29^th, 4-6pm in the Perth Amboy Technical High School on High St, and provided a variety of ways for participants to share there comments and ideas to help enhance the existing facilities, design the expansion areas and improve access to Rudyk Park. It was an Open House style meeting where participants could visit various stations and exercises at their own pace. There were four exercises set up. The first was a board that asked where participants live, and how they access the park; the second was board that asked what participant liked and didn’t like about the park; the third were the three proposed schematic design concepts; and the fourth was the “Design your Own Park” table. Furthermore, throughout the Open House participants provided their input with post-it notes and informal conversation with team members.

Here is some of the most notable information/feedback, based on the results of the meeting:

Exercise 1: Most participants of the “Where do you live?” and “How do you get to Rudyk Park” exercise lived outside the map extent and primarily traveled to the park by car. But there were several that lived within the 10 minute walking distance and walked and biked to the park.

Exercise 2: For the “What do you like and what don’t you like about Rudyk Park?” exercise, participants liked (placed green dots on) the soccer field, baseball field, and basketball courts. They didn’t like (placed red dots on) the State Street fence, the Underpass, and Expansion areas. Some of the comments include: “Improve the soccer field”, “Use space under the bridge”, “Improve walking trail and add bike lane”.

Exercise 3: For the schematic design concepts, participants’ places post-it notes on the various boards. The first concept (the green option) received the most attention, with comments suggesting connecting the park with the bike walk trail, improving access, the approval of passive recreation, green space and stormwater management. The second concept (the Hybrid option) received two notes to add more walking trails, and an ampitheater. The third concept (Active Option) received notes such as add a “bbq /picnic area” and “Volley Ball courts”.

Exercise 4: For the “Design you Own Park” exercise, there were a number of great drawings. The drawing ranged from simple practical suggestions to the more fantastical. Some suggestions included a improving the existing facilities, adding a BBQ Picnic area, Pool, Parking, Volley Ball court, Tennis, Ice Skating Rink, Ampitheater and Drive-in Movie Theater.

When the Meeting / Open House was coming to an end, the Rutgers team and a number of Parks & Recreation, Planning and general city staff had an informal discussion about what could be done in the expansion areas and passive recreation was a very popular option, people also suggested BBQ Picnic Stations and a “Health Trail” with exercise station.