Essex County NJ reopens Yanticaw’s Frank Cocchiola Playground – NorthJersey.com
Essex County reopens Yanticaw Park’s Frank A. Cocchiola Playground in Nutley. Owen Proctor, Staff Writer @OwenProctor1
Janet Feld welcomed the Yanticaw Park playground’s new pavilion, shading her from the sweltering noontime heat on Tuesday.
“We come here twice a week,” said the Nutley mother, as her son Cameron, 8, played out in the sun. “I have an only child, so it’s important for him to come here and meet other children.”
It’s the type of park, with age-specific play areas, that Feld called for in a recent township survey, she said.
Feld also preferred the pavilion for shade, instead of some dying trees that were cut down during the renovation. “I was afraid the older trees would fall on the children,” she noted.
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Joseph DiVincenzo, the Essex County executive, made revitalizing the county park system a priority when he was first elected to the post.
‘Centerpiece’
Mayor Joseph Scapelli called Yanticaw Park the centerpiece of Nutley’s open spaces.
“In the last 16 years, we’ve spent more than $300 million [on county parks],” DiVincenzo said during the Nutley playground’s groundbreaking in April. “This year alone, we’re spending more than $25 million on our parks.”
Remington and Vernick, of Secaucus, oversaw the $58,000 design, while Paterson-based APS Construction built the playground for $997,540.
In addition to the pavilion, two climbing structures, a cargo net climber, a smaller climber and 11 swings were installed at the revamped playground.
Handicap-accessible swings and parent-child swings were also added.
Namesake
Essex County dedicated the Yanticaw Park playground to the late Frank A. Cocchiola in 2006, shortly after this death. He was a Nutley Parks and Recreation commissioner for 28 years.
“My father was all about parks and recreation in Nutley,” his son Frank Cocchiola Jr. said. The playground “is great for the town, great for my dad and his legacy, and the family.”
Email: proctor@northjersey.com
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