Great Falls State Park Plan Moves Forward

The Great Falls of New Jersey in Paterson is about to get a major boost from the State's Department of Environmental Protection:

State environmental officials are now championing an elaborate plan to showcase one of New Jersey's greatest natural treasures. The Department of Environmental Protection is calling for a 60-acre park that would link existing open space with historic factory buildings and would offer spectacular new viewing venues, including a tunnel dug into bedrock below the falls.

Unveiled at a public meeting at the Paterson Museum 10 days ago, the plan calls for tens of millions of dollars of work -- state officials wouldn't say how much. DEP officials vowed to forge ahead quickly, despite tightening budgets. They have set aside $10 million for an initial construction phase.

"It is important to move toward the construction of something," said DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson. "I don't want a 10-year design."

The DEP hopes the first work -- including a new amphitheater and a refurbishing of the viewing boardwalk above the falls -- can begin in the next year or two.

"Everyone is enthusiastic about getting this done quickly," said noted landscape designer James Corner, whose Manhattan-based architectural firm, Field Operations, produced a $400,000 master plan for the DEP. "It's a fantastic asset."

A park in Paterson would be only the second state park in an urban setting. Further, the park would showcase a truly wonderful state treasure and help bring further economic development to the surrounding community, which is sorely in need of assistance.