It’s a new day for the City of Lambertville’s Holcombe Park.
Lambertville was recently awarded a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to spruce up Holcombe Park. The grant is from the Delaware Watershed Fund and is worth $308,000, per Lambertville’s official website.
The work funded by the grant will restore about 2.46 acres in the park.
Mayor Andrew J. Nowick said the Holcombe Park renovations are “an incredible project” at September’s city council meeting and praised everyone involved for helping the city get the grant.
Holcombe Park is located in the Ely Creek watershed and is near the Delaware River Basin.
The three main objectives for this project are to mitigate floodwaters, improve wildlife habitats and enhance public access to nature-based recreation, officials said.
One of the main goals of the Holcombe Park renovations is to manage stormwater.
Since grass lawns act like concrete in the rain, the city wants to plant species that will soak in the rainwater and help it row instead of bouncing off the grass and running downhill, which causes flooding.
Lambertville also wants to repair and enhance the park by planting lush greenery and pulling out invasive species.
By planting plant species that will benefit the park’s ecosystem, the park’s plants will flourish and come to life, especially in the spring and summertime, officials said.
The grant will also pay for educational signage of the plants and wildlife that live in the park, according to the city.
Nowick hopes the Holcombe Park renovations become an example for other communities looking to make similar efforts toward achieving sustainability.
The mayor also said that public engagement is crucial for this project and that he wants to get the public involved in developing concepts for Holcombe Park.
The NFWF grant i a major accomplishment the city.
Council President Steven Stegman called the park renovations “a wonderful thing for the people of Lambertville.”
Officials celebrated that the grant will help the city manage stormwater/floodwater, alleviate flooding concerns and give the city a beautiful park that correlates with the city’s relentless sustainability efforts.
In 2021, the riverside city was devastated by floods during Hurricane Ida, which reignited conversations on how to tackle flooding and climate change.
Since then, Nowick and the city’s council members have been working on sustainability and conservation efforts. They plan to install two electric vehicle charging stations at 18 North Union Street, listened to a stormwater utility presentation from New Jersey Future and approved a stormwater management ordinance to meet standards set by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
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