The recently opened Swimming River Park is a community-driven park on the Middletown/Red Bank, NJ, border that has been years in the making. This waterfront property has been transformed from a privately-owned marina and deli, which required extensive remediation, into a vibrant park that will serve as a recreational hub for the local community.
To support the redevelopment of the park, VHB was engaged to prepare environmental engineering and land use permits, evaluate dredge materials, and provide oversight of remedial investigation reporting and ecological evaluation sampling requirements. The project required extensive coordination between various stakeholders, including the Park System, the Monmouth Conservation Foundation, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. VHB secured grant funding through the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund. Through VHB’s efforts, environmental contaminants were mitigated while honoring the waterfront site’s ecological integrity.
Visitors to Swimming River Park now enjoy a safe, accessible, and sustainable public space, with access to a boat ramp, kayak launch area, walking trail, and riverfront plaza. The County hopes to acquire other adjacent properties as they become available and make additional updates to further protect the Swimming River watershed and establish the space as a flagship park in the area.
