BLOOMINGDALE

After 10 years and $1 million, Bloomingdale to finally reopen Sloan Park

David M. Zimmer
NorthJersey.com

BLOOMINGDALE — A ceremony nearly a decade in the making is set for Saturday in Sloan Park.

After a $1 million renovation and flood control project followed by pandemic-related delays, town officials are expected to officially reopen Sloan Park during a 12:30 p.m. event on Saturday.

The event is scheduled to feature a dedication recognizing former Mayor Jonathan Dunleavy and a presentation on the park from Tom Riley, a local historian. Also planned is the burial of a time capsule initially slated to coincide with the town’s 100th anniversary in 2018.

“We’ve sent invitations out to all the former mayors to actually come out and participate in the burying,” said acting Mayor John D’Amato. “It should be a nice afternoon.”

An end to recurring flood problems in the Bloomingdale business district is one of the goals that led to
the successful recent rebuilding of Sloan Park.

Apart from a few ceremonies and one-off events, Sloan Park on Main Street has been primarily off limits to the public since 2011. Flooding from the Pequannock River that cuts through the property reached a crescendo that year during Hurricane Irene.

The storm and flood damage led town officials to pursue a multi-year mission to reshape the river by rebuilding its banks with cage-bound boulders. That year, they set aside $600,000 for restoration and flood mitigation to restore the park and protect the downstream commercial district. With the park essentially existing as a man-made island in the middle of the river, there is still potential for flooding on site, Dunleavy told The Record in 2017.

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New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials approved the project in 2016, following five years of negotiations. The final touches, such as fencing, sod and sidewalks, started taking shape in the fall of 2019. The total cost topped $990,000, records show.

A flood mitigation project at Sloan Park in Bloomingdale is attempting to rebuild the riverbanks with caged stone.

Town officials initially planned the grand opening for May 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed those plans. The park’s monument area has nonetheless been used for Memorial Day, Veterans Day and 9/11 ceremonies in the last two years

The official reopening is expected to launch a summer of events, including the "Second Fridays" concert series set for July 9, Aug. 13 and Sept. 10. Backed by Dunleavy, who died in November 2020, the series will commemorate the park’s original summer concert series in 1909.

That summer, the Bloomingdale Cornet Band played each Friday at a bandstand former landowner Fred Sloan built on the site. Concerts continued there each summer until the bandstand was destroyed by a 1968 flood, county historical society records show.

David Zimmer is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.