Former Councilman Honored For Park Project In Summit

SUMMIT, NJ - Retired Summit Common Councilman Robert Rubino is the recipient of the 2019 New Jersey Recreation & Parks Association Fay Matheson award.

According to officials, the award is for outstanding work by a volunteer to promote parks in New Jersey. Rubino is a founding member of the Summit Park Line Foundation and is working to create a new park in Summit, the first in over 80 years.

The park was acquired from the state by Summit in early 2016 and will be accessible for pedestrian and bicyclists. Once completed, Park Line will extend from the edge of the downtown Summit at Overlook Medical Center, along a 1.2 mile path through eastern Summit, ending at Briant Park on the Springfield border.

A $200,000 matching grant from the Reeves Foundation was given to the Summit Park Line Foundation to support its project of creating a 1.2 mile linear pedestrian park on the abandoned Rahway Valley Railroad line.

The Park Line Foundation had to raise a minimum of $200,000 to receive the funding from the Reeves Foundation in order to receive the matching "challenge" grant.

Money was donated from the Summit Area Public Foundation, Overlook Foundation, Overlook Medical Center and through a number of Summit residents totaling more than $225,000 of the $3.2 million dollars needed to complete the project within a 12-month period.

"There has been an outstanding expression of support for the Park Line concept from the Summit community," Rubino said. "As the momentum for funding of the project continues to build, the Park Line Foundation is extremely thankful for the circle of friends that are helping to carry this important project forward."

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter by clicking here. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading our Apple iOS app here, or by visiting the Google Play store for the Android app here.