10 Nov ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES FACELIFT FOR BASKETBALL COURTS AND RESTROOM BUILDING IN ESSEX COUNTY BRANCH BROOK PARK
Published on November 10, 2026
Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced that the project to modernize the basketball courts and comfort station in Essex County Branch Brook Park off of Clifton Avenue in Newark has been completed. The upgrades are part of the County Executive’s ongoing initiative to revitalize the Essex County Parks System and ensure park facilities meet the needs of the community.
“The Branch Brook Park basketball courts are used throughout the year, but they come to life in the summer, hosting a dynamic schedule of games that attract some of our most talented athletes. Updating the entire complex, which includes the courts and restrooms, will preserve it as a destination for athletes learning the game and playing it at the highest level,” DiVincenzo said.
“Thank you for this incredible facility. It’s a gift to be in Branch Brook Park. Some of the best basketball players get their start right here and I know these new courts will be appreciated,” Commissioner Vice President A’Dorian Murray-Thomas said.
“This is more than just an investment in the renewal of the park; this is an investment in the community. This is a remarkable improvement, and we thank the County Executive for what he’s done to keep the park beautiful and up to date,” Branch Brook Park Alliance President Thomas Dougherty said.
The two basketball courts were updated with new playing surfaces, fencing, lighting, backboard equipment and scoreboards. The adjacent comfort station was completely renovated inside and out. The building received a new roof, windows, doors and restroom fixtures. The exterior of the building was updated with a new brick façade. The basketball courts were last updated in 2014 and needed attention because of regular wear and tear.
Architecture Work Office from New York was awarded a professional services contract for $148,986 to design the improvements. Cynna Enterprises, Inc. from Clifton was awarded a $1,036,850 publicly bid contract to perform the construction work. The Essex County Department of Public Works monitored the project to ensure delays were avoided. The project was funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund.
Revitalizing Essex County’s Branch Brook Park
The Branch Brook Park Alliance has been the primary partner with Essex County to revitalize Branch Brook Park, which opened in 1895. Park enhancements have been supported with grants from corporations, the New Jersey Green Acres program, the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund, philanthropic organizations and community members. In addition, the Alliance has sponsored a variety of programs to clean the waterways, spruce up the park, maintain the cherry tree collection, develop an urban farm, among other activities.
The Patricia Chambers Grove was established in 2025. The three ballfields in the Northern Division of the park were modernized with synthetic surface infields and natural turf outfields in 2024 and the new Cherry Blossom Welcome Center was opened in 2023. The historic Ballantine Gates off of Lake Avenue were rehabilitated and preserved in 2021. The Branch Brook Dog Park was opened in 2019. A new synthetic grass surface was installed on the Robert Clemente Baseball Field in 2019. Synthetic grass surfaces were installed on the Ray Dandridge and Jerome Greco Little League Fields in 2018. A bronze bust of Frederick Law Olmstead was dedicated in 2018 and a bronze bust of Mendelssohn was restored and rededicated in 2017; both are located in the Prudential Concert Grove. A playground designed with a cherry blossom theme was opened at the Essex County Cherry Blossom Welcome Center in 2015. The Barbara Bell Coleman Welcome Center and Concourse Hill upgrades, along with the opening of a two-mile, synthetic surface walking track, creation of a children’s garden at the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, renovation of a well in the Park’s Northern Division, the rehabilitation of the Reservoir Walls in the Park’s Southern Division and modernization of the Clifton Avenue basketball courts were completed in 2014. The bronze statue honor the late tennis legend Althea Gibson was dedicated and the 20-court tennis complex named in her honor received a complete makeover in March 2012 and the field house in the tennis complex was renovated in July 2012.
A multi-phase project to upgrade the lakefront in the Southern Division was completed in April 2012. It included the restoration of the historic Prudential Lions statues and balustrade, the rehabilitation of two buildings for restrooms and public meeting space, updating the music court with new pavers and landscaping. The music court overlooking the lake was dedicated as the “Prudential Concert Grove” to recognize the corporation’s ongoing support to restore the Park, and a memorial cherry tree grove was rededicated in honor of Kiyofumi Sakaguchi, who was President and CEO of Prudential International Insurance at the time of his death.
The renovation of the historic Octagon Fieldhouse in the Essex County Stephen N. Adubato, Sr. Sports Complex was completed in April 2011. Completed in 2010 were a project to pave the park roadway, upgrade walking paths, and install historic lighting in the section of the park from the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center to Heller Parkway, the planting of 600 Cherry Trees and other trees throughout Branch Brook Park and the paving of the park roadway from Mill Street to Washington Street.
In September 2009, the Middle Division Recreation Complex was renamed as the “Essex County Stephen N. Adubato, Sr. Sports Complex,” in honor of the founder of The North Ward Center and Robert Treat Academy. In August 2009, a synthetic surface football/soccer field was constructed and named after NFL Hall of Famer and Barringer High School alumni Andre Tippett. Earlier in 2009, a “demonstration project” in the Branch Brook Park Extension enhanced landscaping, added Cherry Trees, improved pathways and modernized entranceways into the park from Franklin Avenue. The Bloomfield Avenue Bridge that passes over the Middle Division was rehabilitated in 2009.
A replica of the historic Octagon Shelter in the Southern Division of Essex County Branch Brook Park was built in 2007 and the baseball field complex known as the “three diamonds” was upgraded in 2007. The baseball/softball complex in the Branch Brook Park Middle Division was reopened in April 2005 after a remediation and modernization project, and the historic restoration of the Park Avenue Bridge was completed in 2005. Entrance enhancements, new fencing and landscaping along Clifton Avenue and Mill Street, and a major improvement project along Lake Street have made the park more inviting.
The Essex County Park System was created in 1895 and is the first county park system established in the United States. The Park System consists of more than 6,000 acres and has 23 parks, five reservations, an environmental center, a zoo, Treetop Adventure Course, ice skating rink, roller skating rink, three public golf courses, two miniature golf courses, golf driving range, six off-leash dog facilities, a castle and the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens. Branch Brook Park was created in 1895 and is the first park in Essex County’s system. At 359.72 acres, it is the largest county park in Essex.
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