$2.5M Upgrades To Baseball Field At Weequahic Park In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — Work has begun on a $2.53 million “modernization” of a baseball field at Weequahic Park in Newark, county officials announced last week.

Essex County is partnering with Rutgers University in Newark to update the field, which will become the home field of the Rutgers University-Newark Scarlet Raiders men’s baseball team.

The field will also be made available to local high school and recreation programs, Essex County officials said.

According to a county news release:

“The field is accessible by entering Weequahic Park via the Meeker Avenue entrance. The natural turf field will be upgraded with a synthetic grass surface, underground drainage system, a new backstop, fencing, bleachers and scoreboard. When the field is not being used by Rutgers-Newark, it will be available to be used by high school and recreation teams.”

Officials noted that Essex County has a similar arrangement with the Seton Hall University women’s softball team, which utilizes Essex County Ivy Hill Park as its home field. When the field is not in used by the Pirates, it hosts Little League teams and high school girls’ softball tournaments.

County officials stated:

“Mott MacDonald from Iselin was awarded a professional services contract for $75,000 to design the field improvements. Applied Landscape Technologies from Montville was awarded a publicly-bid contract for $2,538,000 to perform the construction work. Essex County received grants from Rutgers University in Newark and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund to fund the project.”

Work started earlier this month and is scheduled to be completed by January 2020, officials said.

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