Valley St. Pathway Project in Memorial Park
Project Authorization Application approved by the
New Jersey Historic Preservation Office May 2024
The Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy, in partnership with the Township of Maplewood, developed a comprehensive 5 year plan for shrub replacement to restore, maintain, and enhance the aging shrub layer of our historic park. The Valley Entry and Border Plan was approved by the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office in May of 2024. Excerpts from the plan can be viewed below and the full plan can be found HERE. Since approval, the Township and the Conservancy received an AARP Community Challenge grant to implement Phase One of the the project which includes installing the path and planting at the entry points on Oakview Avenue. In September 2024, Maplewood DPW laid the 560′ long asphalt path and, with MMPC volunteers, planted 7 dawn redwood trees. In October, a group of 30 volunteers planted 125 shrubs and perennials at the south and north entries.
Valley Entrance and Border Plan
Maplewood Memorial Park was designed and constructed approximately 100 years ago by the firms of Olmsted Brothers and Brinley and Holbrook, primarily in a picturesque landscape style. Additionally, Richard Walter, Superintendent of Parks and Shade Trees from 1935 to 1970, installed numerous more unusual species of trees and plants during his long tenure, adding a special botanical element to the park as well. Today, the park is a well-loved and heavily used greenspace, providing a place for respite as well as a central space for various recreational activities and events. Memorial Park was designated a Maplewood Historic Landmark in 20009, and in 2015, listed in both the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places for significance in landscape architecture. In 2017, the Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy was formed to partner with the Township of Maplewood to ensure that this historic treasure is properly maintained by undertaking a careful assessment of its needs, and making plans and executing projects for its restoration and enhancement. Among other initiatives, projects in the last few years have restored a landscaped border based on original Olmsted Brothers plans (Flagpole Hill Restoration, Project 18-0582) and provided a multi-year plan to restore the tree canopy (Tree Replacement Plan 20-0919-2) and shrub borders (Shrub Replacement Plan 22-1251-2).
This current application is for a plan to restore a landscaped eastern entry to the park at Oakview Avenue as well as a landscaped border originally intended to buffer the park from the busy roadway along Valley Street. A path, seen in earlier historical plans, will complete the park’s interior pathway system, allowing walkers, runners, and field goers to avoid the narrow sidewalk along Valley Street. Currently this is the only section of the park not accessible via an interior pathway, which may be due to a historical dispute over jurisdiction which is outlined below in History. Benches and lights, currently installed along existing pathways, will be added to provide more seating in the park (Attachments 1 and 2).
Plants at the entryway and along Valley street will be a mix of trees, evergreen and deciduous shrubs, and perennials, and were arranged to reflect the most complete planting plan available, the Brinley and Holbrook 1928 “Planting Plan” (Discussed below in History and in Attachments 11-17). Plant species were chosen for their historical relevance to the picturesque landscape style, Olmsted Brothers and Brinley and Holbrook plant palettes and Richard Walter specimen selections. Adaptation to climate change, ecosystem services such as wildlife value, and the plants’ cultural needs were also considered.
This plan is expected to be completed in three phases.
Phase 1– Pathway and Landscaping at Oakview Entrance
The pathway will have two entrances along Oakview to mirror the path structure south of Oakview and end at the path across from Park Road (Attachment 2). It will be a six-foot-wide asphalt path to match other paths in the park. Depth of asphalt is 2” on a 6” gravel base suitable for light duty uses. The path will branch at the playground to allow easier access to the ADA adaptable swing. A contractor will construct the path and be hired in accordance with the town’s RFP procedures.
Dawn redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) will be clustered near Oakview Avenue to create an entryway on many levels: They are a significant tree in the park—Richard Walter was an early recipient of these trees when they were rediscovered by the botanical community in the 1940s and he planted a number of specimens. Their immense height will visually join the north and south entrances of the park; they are conifers and, though deciduous, will suggest the original Brinley and Holbrook entry planting plan (Attachment 11 and 15). The two species of trees that were planted or specified at the corners at Oakview—Douglas fir and hemlocks-are no longer recommended because of climate and disease, respectively.
Shrubs provide structure for the path as indicated in the original plans. and fill in gaps in existing hedges. Perennials will add seasonal color and structure and suppress the growth of weeds as the trees mature.
Phase 2 – Lighting and Benches
Lights will match existing lights, upgraded to LED as are currently being replaced in the park (see Attachment 1, upper left corner). An electrical contractor will be hired to place a new electrical box for the circuit breaker, lay the wires, install the bases and lights.
Benches will match garden benches currently installed along pathways in the park (Attachment 3). Maplewood Department of Public Works will install these benches.
Phase 3 – Valley St. Border Landscaping
Along the Valley St. border, masses of small trees and shrubs will frame views, screen passing cars from park goers and create a pleasant environment to walk through the park. Groups of Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) and blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) in a tree form are positioned to match the Brinley and Holbrook planting plan (Attachment 11). Shrubs are generally in the same position as the Brinley and Holbrook plan, with small breaks for pedestrian access to the street if needed. These are positioned to appear as a solid mass of shrubs from a distance.
Community Input
In October 2022 the Conservancy held a placemaking event using the AARP Toolkit to gauge public reaction to the plan. Flags marked out the proposed pathway, benches were made of hay bales and plantings were simulated along the border. Posters explained the history and the benefits we anticipated. Visitors were asked to give survey responses, both at the event and online. Of 59 respondents to the survey, 51 strongly agreed and 8 agreed that the project was a good idea. There were no negative responses. The most popular aspect of the plan that was cited was that it allowed for a safer and more pleasant park experience by providing a buffer from the traffic on Valley St.
Engineering and Permitting
The Township Engineering Department has provided critical guidance as the plan has progressed. At their recommendation and supported by the Maplewood Open Space Trust Fund, the Township hired the engineering firm NV5 to perform a wetland investigation report, which determined that no wetlands are located within the proposed footprint of disturbance and also determined permit requirements.
History
In the early 1900’s, Valley Street was a busy thoroughfare through a residential neighborhood. A trolley stopped at the north corner of Valley Street and Oakview Avenue. A playground had been constructed here in 1916.
Early plans (1920-1923) for the park proposed paths near Valley Street both north and south of Oakview Avenue, and in the classic picturesque style, a border of trees and shrubs to separate the busy and loud streetscape from the calm park interior. In an article in the South Orange Record from April 2, 1920, the accompanying image “Sketch of Proposed Maplewood Athletic Field,” attributed to Brinley and Holbrook Landscape Architects (Attachments 4 & 5), features a path and thick border of trees and shrubs. A South Orange Record article from April 6, 1923, reporting on the progress of park amenity construction, depicts a plan similar to the Olmsted Brothers’ December 13, 1922, “Design for Proposed Park” (Attachment 6) which shows a curving path next to Valley Street and a vegetated boundary with trees and shrubs. The landscaping on the north entry at the intersection of Oakview Avenue along Valley Street mirrors the entry on the south.Later plans (1926-1928) for the park accommodated a request by the Ricalton School for exclusive playfields north and south of Oakview Avenue under the administration of the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education. Attachment 7, Brinley and Holbrook’s “Plan for Maplewood Memorial Park” from October 11, 1926, is a conceptual plan that reserves two large “Play Ground” areas. It also has a symmetrical entrance and planting north and south of Oakview Avenue and planting along the border of Valley Street. Attachment 8, a second Brinley and Holbrook “Plan for Maplewood Memorial Park” from August 12, 1927, shows a schematic planting plan, catch basins and lights. It also has two large blank areas labeled, “Play Ground To be Constructed and Maintained by the Board of Education.” Brinley and Holbrook also produced a plan, “Planting Plan Playground’“A’” from September 30, 1927, for the Board of Education that specified a thick border of vegetation around the south playground (Attachment 9). There is no available corresponding plan for the north playground.
This cooperation with the Board of Education seems to have been short lived. By 1928, the plans for the fields changed. The Brinley and Holbrook March 5, 1928, “Grading Plan” (Attachment 10) shows a path that extends south from Oakview Avenue along Valley where there had been a plan for vegetation in Attachment 8. The Brinley and Holbrook “Planting Plan”, July 16, 1928, (Attachment 11) shows a demarcation for the fields, but now has a simple border along Valley St.
Though there is no corresponding plant list for this plan, the plant numbers and shapes can tell us what was generally planned (Attachment 12). A base of repeated plants growing under evenly placed trees creates a rather thick boundary between the street and park.
There is no record of the plants that were actually planted in the border, but small trees and shrubs were installed along Valley Street which can be seen in a photo from a baseball game played c. 1930s (Attachment 13). Mature elms can be seen in a photo from the mid 1970s. Attachment 14). These trees died and were removed around 2010.
Attachment 14: Mature elms along Valley Street, c. 1975-1977.
The Brinley and Holbrook 1928 Planting Plan specified a unique treatment of the entryways to the park: at each entry from the street, they specified thick borders of evergreens. One can imagine stepping from the busy street into the coolness of an evergreen forest. Again, though the extent of planting that followed the Brinley and Holbrook plan is unknown, an early photograph, “George Thompson’s Ballfield Panorama, c. 1930s,” shows a mass of evergreens in at the south corner Oakview Ave. and Valley St. (Attachment 15). There are currently a few Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) both north and south of Oakview, but it is not known when they were planted or when the evergreens in the photo were removed.
Additionally, by the time a 1922 survey plan was created, an allee of maple had been planted along Oakview Avenue. These are labeled as “Existing 4” Maples” on the 1928 Planting Plan. These maples can be seen in the photo “George Thompson’s Panorama at Oakview and Dunnell, July 4, 1931”. (Attachment 16) to the right and above the amphitheater in the c. 1930s “View in Memorial Park” (Attachment 17). These trees were likely removed when the street was widened to make room for parking for train commuters, though it is not known when this occurred.
The planting plan specified shrubs and/or perennials in the triangle created between the pathways and the sidewalk south of Oakview Avenue. North of Oakview a multilayered vegetated border prevented entry at the corner.
Existing Conditions
The border along Valley Street is now mostly devoid of planting and the amenities in this part of the park (swingset with ADA adaptive swing, ADA picnic table, baseball fields with bleachers) are accessible only over turf and therefore difficult to get to for those with limited mobility or disabilities. Walkers and commuters traveling between Oakview Avenue and Oakland Road must walk along a 4’ narrow, unshaded sidewalk with busy traffic on one side and a steep berm on the other (Attachments 2 & 18).
Four elms were planted in the park along Valley—two in 2017 and two in 2023 following the Tree Master Plan. At the north corner of Oakview Avenue and Valley Street, a mass of yews surround a large London plane tree (Platanus x acerifolia) and small hardy orange (Poncirus trifoliata). At the corner, in the grass, there are numerous utility access chambers and a pole for the traffic light. West of the pole there is a loose grouping of plants including another hardy orange, a bridalwreath spirea (Spiraea Vanhouteii), and a rose of sharon (Hibiscus syriacus). West of this there is a large mass of shrubs with a fragrant honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) and forsythia (Forsythia sp.) (Attachment 19)
At the south corner of the entryway there is a slightly more cohesive border of yews, hollies, viburnums and ornamental trees. Yews create a clear split as the path branches east to the corner at Oakview or west along Oakview toward the train station. The entry is framed by a large holly and a conical yew that provides a backdrop to an announcement board, Small trees like hardy orange or Kousa dogwood are placed to highlight their ornamental qualities. There are gaps in the shrub masses and the stump of a large unknown tree that point to plant attrition (Attachment 19).
The entryway at Oakview is not well defined. There is little connection between the north and south sides of the park from the street. The path and announcement board to the south side of the park from Oakview Ave. clearly indicates an entryway, but the north entry is simply a worn path through a gap in an unconnected set of shrubs. Any planting that may have been installed along the sidewalk as shown in the Brinley and Holbrook planting plan has since died (Attachment 19).
The 2014 Master Plan completed for the park suggested two recommendations for this section of the park:
- The installation of a pathway so people with disabilities can access the playground, picnic area and ballfields.
- To balance the heavily planted border at the southern end of the park with the sparse border in this northern section of the park.
With the proposed plan additions, we hope to restore historical designs by enhancing the area with trees, shrubs and perennials, and improve the experience of park goers of all ages by providing a safe and pleasant place to walk and sit to enjoy the beauty of the landscape, while increasing access to the ballfields, courts, and playground in this section of the park. (Attachments 20-22) Additional trees and plants will also help to provide foliage and flowers for wildlife, and absorb stormwater runoff.
Zone 1S: South RiveBanks, Existing and Historic Photos
