Hudson County selected Barreto / Dowd, Landscape Architects of Howell, New Jersey, for the park and recreation planning of Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus. The existing 67-acre park, which already hosted unique recreational opportunities for the public, such as the boat ramp and kayak launch, fishing pier, baseball and soccer fields, and cricket field, needed a redesign. The new and refurbished recreational facilities and Living Shoreline along the banks of the Hackensack River were funded in part by the State's Green Acres program with a $1.5 million grant and a $1 million loan with an approved construction budget of $7 million for Phase A and B. Phase A, recently completed in the fall of 2023, includes a sports courts area, 50-car permeable brick paver parking lot, lighting, landscaped paths, gazebo, playground, and sprayground. Phase B will include the shoreline restoration, permeable brick pavers at the existing gravel parking lots, roadway and path lighting, and park entry enhancements.
Sports Courts Area
Phase A added a sports court area with two basketball courts, six tennis courts, two volleyball courts, a 50-car permeable brick paver parking lot, a gazebo, paths, parking and path lighting, sports court lighting, landscaping, irrigation, and water quality basins. The multi-use path was designed to connect the new County High Tech School and adjacent high-density residential neighborhood with the park's new sports courts area and the existing park pathway system. The gazebo was specified as a shade structure centered amongst the new courts and features a bluestone floor with the county logo engraved in the center and a custom circular bench.
Lighting
New decorative LED roadway and pathway lighting flanks the new permeable brick parking area and the new paths. Roadway luminaries are a teardrop shape with arm brackets on tapered fluted poles. The 53 head lighting existing along the parking lots and roadways will be replaced with tear drop lights while 36 existing path lights are scheduled to be replaced with new matching decorative LED Franklin Park lights as part of Phase B. 600 sports courts luminaires were used on galvanized poles with a wireless control link system using an astronomical clock allowing the county to set an automatic schedule for controlling the lights.

 
Sprayground
The sprayground equipment layout was designed by selecting a variety of components. A variety of ground sprays and above-ground features were selected to create a natural wetlands theme mimicking the adjacent shoreline's ecosystem. Ground sprays include flush-mounted geysers, stones, ants, and snakes. Above-ground features include Morning Grass, Waterleaf, Aneth Bloom, Butterflies, Dragon Flies, and Tower Sprays. A Pump Value Building was required to accommodate a new water line with sufficient pressure to operate the sprayground's water pressure and water consumption. Surface drainage was accommodated by grading the sprayground floor using an umbrella-like grading scheme so that all surface water drains to a level perimeter drainage system incorporated in the 5' wide flexible porous path. A flexible paving sytem was used over a ? 3/4 " clean compacted aggregate trench that included a continuous High-density polyethylene Perforated pipe slope to the nearby drainage system eliminating the need to incorporate standard surface-mounted grates and drain inlets.

Playground
A custom-themed playground was created using equipment components from Play & Park Structures in a nautical theme to relate to the adjacent Hackensack River. Play Elements include a variety of types of swings, slides, climbers, and musical instruments. Green synthetic turf was used as the
playground surface.

50 car permeable brick paver parking lot
A new 50-car parking lot created with permeable brick pavers was installed to support the sports courts area. Stormpave 4" x 8" x 2 3/4" pavers were selected. The color Dark Accent was used as the main field in a herringbone pattern with a 16" band pattern at the perimeters of the aisle and curb line. "Grey Accent" was used for the stall and crosswalk striping and "Red" ADA pavers were used at the Handicapped ramps. The ADA / Handicapped parking markings were defined with custom-cut "True Blue" Bluestone, eliminating the need for any future paint striping.
The stormwater management design for the sports courts area creates two water quality basins. Originally designed and approved with a wetlands wildflower mix, the NJDEP reversed their approval and required the basins be installed with a sand bottom and grass side slopes. All surface water run-off from the parking, paths, and courts drains to the water quality basins providing 100% recharge. The two other existing gravel parking lots, which will provide parking for the Playground and sprayground and the shoreline promenade, are scheduled to have permeable brick pavers installed, making all the recreational parking areas uniform and more sustainable in Phase B. Also included in Phase B are grass berms with informal groupings of trees between the parking lots and shoreline promenade that will create a visual buffer between the two parking lots and the main
River Walk.

Shoreline Restoration
A major element of the Phase B improvements is the shoreline refurbishment and restoration with native plantings that stretch from the boat ramp on the northern end to the recently installed fishing pier in the south. Landscaped seating alcoves along the promenade are scheduled to be added to provide places to sit, picnic, and enjoy the view of the river and the new shoreline restoration plantings that will create extensive wildlife habitat and provide natural fencing to direct the public to safe areas of water access. Barreto / Dowd added the Rutgers University Center for Urban Restoration Ecology to the design team to develop a methodology for the Salt Marsh and adjacent wetlands restoration. All permits for Phase B were approved and included in Murray Construction's construction contract. A new entry archway is also scheduled for Phase B at the park entrance using a generous length of vehicular cobblestone pavement, landscaping, lighting, and signage.

As seen in LASN magazine, June 2023.