Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

FAIR HAVEN: PARK OPENS ON OLD HOUSE SITE

fair-haven-williams-albert-robards-park-101519-6-500x332-8227394Local officials lined the shoreline of the Navesink River for the park opening. Below, the house that formerly stood on the site, as seen in 2009. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

fh-williams-back-220x165-4453644More than a decade after it began, an effort to turn prime riverfront property in Fair Haven into a park ended with a ribbon-cutting Tuesday evening.

Dubbed “Williams, Albert and Robards Park” for the successive generations of the family that lived there, the site at the northern end of Denormandie Avenue will now serve as a place for “contemplation,” Mayor Ben Lucarelli told several dozen onlookers at a brief ceremony.

fair-haven-williams-albert-robards-park-101519-5-500x332-6274834Attendees read the dedication plaque on a bench, one of four donated by friends and families of late borough residents. Below, a plaque at the entrance to the park offers some site history. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

fair-haven-williams-albert-robards-park-101519-2-220x146-4528544The house, built in 1853 by Charles Williams, a free African-American, was acquired by the borough for $1.2 million in 2014, five years after the death of its last resident, Winifred Julia Decatur Robards. She had lived all but two of her 92 years there.

Though a weathered medallion on the doorframe marked the structure as a Century House, borough officials said the house was not historically significant, and too costly to restore. It was demolished in 2015.

The remaining 320-foot-deep lot is now a passive park with four benches dedicated to deceased community members, including police officer Robert Henne Jr. and councilman Jerome Koch.

Councilwoman Betsy Koch, who followed her late husband onto the governing body three years after his death in a cycling accident, called the park “just spectacular” during the council’s regular meeting Tuesday night.

The benches overlook the 140-foot frontage on the Navesink River, where the American Littoral Society plans to create a living shoreline next spring, Lucarelli said.

According to Councilman Chris Rodriguez, the property is also home to Monmouth County’s oldest and largest yew tree.

The borough’s success in acquiring and converting the site to parkland “would not have been possible” without the leadership of former mayor Mike Halfacre, Lucarelli said at the borough council meeting Tuesday evening.

More than $1 million of the cost was covered by grants from the state of New Jersey, Monmouth County and the private Monmouth Conservation Foundation, said Lucarelli.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
HOVERING CHOPPER
What’s going on here? Last Sunday. Hovering around for quite a while. (Photo and text by Partyline contributor Rosaleen Perry)   ...
RBMS HOOPS CHAMPS HONORED
The Red Bank Middle School girls basketball team is honored for their championship season. (click for more)
NAVESINK SUNSET
Sunset sunburst over Riverside Gardens Park (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
RIVERSIDE SUNSET
Sunday’s sunset shot from Riverside Gardens Park. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus) —
MARINE PARK SUNSET
Stunning sunset from Red Bank's Marine Park.
GULLS AND GRAY OVER MOLLY PITCHER INN
On a cold rainy spring day, bulls soared high above the Navesink River and the golden cupola of Red Bank's Molly Pitcher Inn.
Red Bank Commuters Enjoy Stunning Sunrise Over Navesink River
Thursday morning sunrise over the Navesink River, a commuter view from NJ Transit Train 3320. (photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim) & ...
SUNRISE OVER MONMOUTH STREET
Sunrise over Monmouth Street Thursday morning (photo by Partline contributor Thomas Doremus)
FINAL STRAW FOR MARINE PARK REMAKE
Workers place a straw covering over the now-dirt (soon to be grass) stretch of Marine Park that had been an asphalt parking lot for generati ...
DEER IN RED BANK
Dear Friends –Original before GPT– Deer Friends
GHOSTBUSTERS ON MONMOUTH STREET
Ghostbusters vehicle spotted on Monmouth Street. (photo by Partyline contributor Roseann DalPra)
BOAT CLUB AND BATTLESHIP GREY
Monmouth Boat Club under the past weekend’s clouds. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
CURBSIDE BLOOMS
Broad Street beautified. (photo and text by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
NEW MURAL TAKES SHAPE AT CANNABIS SHOP
Red Bank artist Michael White, donning a hat fitting for the day of the New York Mets’ home opener, works on a new mural at Canopy Cro ...
CHERRY BLOSSOMS ABOUND IN RED BANK
Cherry blossoms are everywhere! (photo and text by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
DOWNTOWN RED BANK ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Downtown on a Friday afternoon. (partyline Photo by Thomas Doremus)  
LIGHTS ON THE NAVESINK
Thursday’s post-sunset clouds over the Navesink (Partyline photo by Thomas Doremus)  
A SPRING IN THE STEP
A man walks carrying a bouquet of flowers beneath the blooming trees in Red Bank. (Partyline photo by John T. Ward)  
ROWING INTO SPRING
Beyond the magnolia trees in full bloom at the Red Bank Library, the Navesink River Rowing Advanced Youth Program heads out for their weekda ...
RED BANK GREEN VISITS AUSTRALIA
Publisher Kenny Katzgrau is representing Red Bank and Red Bank Green at the Local and Independent News Association Summit in Melbourne, Aust ...