Early this morning, I was in Church Square Park and noticed that the entire middle playground was blocked off due to trees being cut down around it's perimeter. Obviously there was much concern and conversation among the parents and I even overheard many say that it had to do with an "upcoming playground renovation".
I spoke to the City official at the park who was overseeing the work. He told me that a tree company was hired to inspect all the trees in the park as a result of a large tree branch that fell a few months ago that hit a child and broke a lampost. This is something that was needed from a safety perspective, NOT an aesthetic one. I was also told that most of the trees were being "pruned" and would grow back in the years to come.
Please know that Project Play was NEVER made aware of these actions NOR did we mandate it. It has been made very clear in our mission statement and overall objectives that we DO NOT intend to take any trees down during the design and construction of the playgrounds.
If you should have any further concerns or questions about what happened today, please contact the Director of Environmental Services, Jennifer Maier at jmaier@nullhobokennj.org
Thank you for your understanding!
Regina and Zabrina
The HFA Project Play Team