An amenity that has eluded residents of the Mile Square City is likely to be part of the revamp at a city-owned property as a new community pool facility is in the works for a Hoboken block.
Mayor Ravi Bhalla and other officials were on hand during a community meeting on June 29 to unveil three draft concepts to revitalize the Multi-Service Center at 124 Grand Street. The proposals would all create a new facility and all three concepts presented incorporate new indoor and outdoor recreation options.
“After hearing resident and stakeholder feedback about the best place in Hoboken for a pool, the Multi-Service Center became the most logical choice,” said Mayor Bhalla in a statement. “I am also excited that this new center will become a new, state-of-the-art location that will add additional recreational space, community gathering locations, a new senior center, and much more.”
The first concept for the property’s revamp proposes spaces for a day care, senior services, a café, library space, a gymnasium, multi-purpose community rooms, and an outdoor rooftop 25-meter swimming pool and children’s play area. The remainder of the site would feature an open-air canopied structure including a multi-purpose hockey rink on the ground floor, a basketball court and four pickleball courts on the second floor, and a rooftop with a wading pool, splash pad, and turf field.
The second concept brings the swimming inside with an indoor 25-meter pool on the ground floor alongside spots for a day care, senior services, a café, library, a performance space, gymnasium, multi-purpose community rooms, and municipal offices. A community garden and four pickleball courts would occupy the rooftop, while the western portion of the site would include outdoor plazas, a playground, a wading pool, half basketball court, and two pickleball courts.
The third concept would consist of a covered, open-air multi-purpose hockey rink on the ground-level, space for a day care, senior services, library space, multi-purpose community rooms, performance space, gymnasium, and recreational spaces for up to three pickleball courts and a community garden on the rooftop. The western portion of the third design includes an outdoor wading pool, an indoor 25-meter pool, and a rooftop playground.
The project team will now use comments gathered from residents during the virtual meeting and gather additional feedback during a July 6 in-person meeting at 11 a.m. with senior citizens at the Multi-Service Center.
Residents are invited to fill out an online survey here to further weigh in on the project. A final design for the Multi-Service Center will be drawn up over the coming months, at which point cost estimates will be provided.
